Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification
by WereDragon EX
Summary: In the land of Unova, one man must work with his friends to regain what he lost years ago, while another seeks to reclaim his possession by force, letting those who search for it do the job for him. Accepting OCs as of Chapter 36.
1. The Dinner which Shook Unova!

**Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri**

* * *

_"The world's made of light AND darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything."_ - King Mickey, Kingdom Hearts II

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 1: The Dinner which Shook Unova!**

* * *

_Many years ago, centuries, millennia even, there was a fair land known as Unova, its largest settlement ruled by a wise and just king, and assisted by his loyal pet, a great and mighty dragon. Under his rule, his land prospered and flourished. Riots were rare, wars unheard of. Few went hungry and many looked to the future, believing things could only get brighter from there. _

_Alas, it was not to be, for the good king passed on, his soul relegated to the worlds beyond. Wishing for greater cooperation, the king left his settlement to his two sons, wanting to avoid a power struggle between the two. Following their father's death, the two brothers worked hand-in-hand, and their kingdom soon grew to include the whole of Unova, its future only growing brighter year by year, its continued growth spurred on by the great dragon left to the brothers._

_This peace was not to last, for in making the brothers joint rulers of the land, the late king initiated that which he had hoped to prevent: a power struggle. Sure enough, the brothers feuded over the best way to govern Unova. The older brother sought truth, possessing the wisdom to find and recognize it, whilst the younger craved ideals, and had the ambition to carry them out. Many heated arguments broke out over this debate. The council and nobles tried to mediate the situation, believing both young men to be right, but they too were eventually forced to choose sides._

_One day at the dinner table, the two brothers once again brought up the debate. This time however, neither was prepared to let things go. Incensed, the younger brother drew his sword and challenged his own flesh and blood to a duel. Accepting the challenge, the older brother unsheathed his blade in turn. An intense fight broke out as the interior of the royal palace was decimated by the two brothers' relentless attacks toward each other. Particularly attuned to the feelings of its masters, the great dragon was conflicted, the clashing feelings channeled straight to its core._

_The dragon thrashed in pain at the intensity of the duel, its anguished roars being blasted straight to the heavens. Its agony alerted its masters, who halted their fight and watched in awe and horror as a sickening tearing ripped the massive creature straight down the middle. The two halves of the dragon each glowed a different color, white for the left half and black for the right. The brothers looked on as each half reformed into a smaller but still powerful dragon._

_The left half shaped itself into a brilliant majestic creature of light, slender and angelic in appearance. It exuded an ancient feel of tradition, embodying Unova's humble past. The Vast White dragon flew to the older brother and bowed its head. Running his fingers through its soft downy feathers, the man spoke the first word to roll off his tongue, labeling the dragon forevermore. _"_Reshiram."_

_The right half took the form of a being sculpted by darkness, dull and unassuming, bulky and demonic. Its technological construct gave away the semblance of change, signifying Unova's hopes for a bright future. This Deep Black dragon beckoned the younger brother close with a flick of its wrist. The man placed his hand on the beast's left leg, and felt its rough scaley skin. A name for the dragon came easy to the man. _"_Zekrom."_

_The brothers stepped away from their champions of battle and stared each other down, each trying to intimidate the other, to no avail. Both men pointed at each other, and the dragons knew what was to come._

_Reshiram flew up on its silver wings, its tail and the ends of its mane ablaze, glowing red-orange with the inextinguishable passion of searing flames. Letting out a roar, it generated a massive ball of crimson flames at its foe. Zekrom retaliated in turn, its tail and the end of its plume sparkling, the blue cackle of striking thunder serving to strengthen its resolve for victory. With a shriek, it formed a large sphere of blue-hued electricity, and shot it at the other dragon._

_The two attacks, equal in size and power, collided; causing an explosion which blew out a large portion of the castle's reinforced stone walls. Everyone dived for cover from the whizzing debris which threatened to blow holes in their miserable corpses. The brothers still stood tall, neither willing to yield to the other. The battle continued._

_The resulting onslaught was catastrophic; the royal castle reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. And yet the two beasts still persisted in the fight, wrecking devastation to the surrounding town and countryside. But that was not enough. Reshiram and Zekrom continued their endless battle, leaving untold destruction across Unova in their wake. Fearing for their land and livelihood, the common folk all banded together and put both creatures into a deep slumber, sealing them in aura imbued stone orbs. Reshiram dwelled within the Light Stone, Zekrom within the Dark Stone. Both orbs were hidden as far away from each other as possible, lest the dragons once again awake and resume their meaningless battle._

_Neither brother has been seen since the destruction of the castle; both are assumed to have died in the ensuing chaos. Slowly but surely, the land of Unova began to heal its wounds, but no one would ever forget the events which transpired during that fateful dinner between the two brothers._

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Research Chamber 1, December 27, 2010, 10 p.m.)_

A hand closed the book resting on the table as a pale-skinned, green-eyed woman in her mid-twenties looked up from the engrossing tale. She had light brown hair styled into a beehive, and wore a white blouse with a green skirt, red diamond earrings, and white sneakers with red laces. Her name was Professor Aurea Juniper.

The woman ran a hand through her hair and gazed at the book she spent the last half hour thumbing through before sighing. "Even as an adult, that tale still never ceases to amaze and astound me. I wonder if it all really happened."

Before she could continue her thoughts, she heard faint cackles of static as the lights and machines in the room gave out and exploded, overloaded with power beyond their capacity. Professor Juniper turned to the window in shock, only to see a massive swirling black cloud shaped like the eye of a hurricane, obscuring her view of the outdoors. Large blue bolts of lightning sparked from the cloud, some striking the earth, branding expansive scorch marks where they landed. As quickly as it began, the cloud dispersed, leaving no evidence of its presence a few minutes ago.

Professor Juniper, stunned by what she had just borne witness to, slumped back into a nearby chair, as she instructed her waiting assistants to repair the damage done to her laboratory. "T-That was Z-Zekrom…"

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, December 27, 2010, 10:10 p.m.)_

"So, Zekrom is actively on the move…"

Seven men were seated around a long rectangular table in a room devoid of any other furnishings. The lighting was even dimmed to the point of near total darkness. A softball-sized black stone sphere rested on the middle of the table.

Another man spoke. "And now we wait."

A third took the opportunity to interject. "It would seem that there have been some unforeseen developments."

The first man frowned. "What are you blabbering about?"

"The scrolls foretold that Reshiram's master would return soon."

The first man sighed. "That could be a problem…"

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, Unknown time and place.)_

"So where are we off to now?"

Looking up from his spot at a control panel, a pale-skinned man who appeared to be in his late twenties perked his head at the question. He had green eyes and long dark brown hair which partially covered his forehead. He wore a plain brown tweed jacket with elbow patches, a pink dress shirt, a maroon bow tie, maroon braces, a gold wrist watch, rolled up navy-blue suspendered trousers and black boots. His hexagonal control panel was, needless to say, unusual. Attached to it was a wide assortment of miscellaneous items, such as a typewriter, rubber ducky, gramophone, telegraph, a set of hot and cold taps, and a view-screen, etc. The centre of the room had a large green tinted cylinder which extended from the ceiling and down to the centre of the control panel, which periodically rose and fell.

The man turned to the woman who had asked the question. She was twenty-one, 5' 11", pale-skinned with green eyes and red shoulder length hair, and was wearing a red long-sleeved sweater with a black skirt. Over the sweater was a red jacket. In addition, she wore white sneakers. The woman was standing next to another pale-skinned man with a shaggy mop of short dirty blonde hair that topped his head, with a few strands falling over his forehead. In his early twenties, he had brown eyes, and wore a checkered black and white shirt with a brown vest on top. He also wore brown pants and black sneakers.

The brown haired man acknowledged the couple with a nod. "What, just got back from your honeymoon and already eager to head somewhere else? We are headed off, to a vast and beautiful land known as Unova. Brilliant place to visit at this time of year. The scenery is breathtaking, the geography varied, and the fauna is unlike anything you've ever seen or will ever see. And don't get me started on the people. They…" The brown haired man trailed off, and the woman decided not to prompt him, knowing how eccentric he could get at times. The man continued to speak, quickly changing the subject. "Anyways, you two lovebirds had better head off and get prepared; I-I n-need to make my o-own preparations here. Alone." Slightly confused at the brown haired man's tone, the other two people in the room exited to give him his privacy.

The man strolled over to a wall and gently rapped on it three times with his knuckles. The wall sprang open, revealing a hidden closet. Inside was a regal looking red cape, trimmed with white fur, and adorned with printed gold oak leaves. A robe of gold cloth hung next to the cape, with a pair of white pants next to that. A sheathed claymore was strapped to the back wall of the closet, and a pair of brown boots rested on the closet floor. A small shelf above the claymore held a shiny crown crafted of an unusual white metal. Underneath the crown was a pair of fine white leather gloves. The man ran his fingers through the cape, closing his eyes at the fabric's soft texture. He grabbed the claymore and unsheathed it, briefly examining the shimmering ivory-white blade, free of any blemishes. Replacing the sword, he searched the robe until he found what he was looking for, a pocket at the right end. Digging his left hand into the pocket, he emptied it of its contents: a single silvery white feather, soft as the finest silk.

Tears began to sting his eyes as the man whispered so no one else could hear. "I'm sorry. I'm s-so v-very sorry-y for abandoning you l-like-e that, old friend. I swear on my honor that I-I w-will never f-f-forget you. How could I, a-after what you tried to help me accomplish-h?" Two teardrops flowed down the man's cheeks and splashed on the feather in his hand. He wiped his eyes off on his sleeve and opened his jacket, carefully placing the feather in an inner pocket.

He closed the hidden closet and returned to his control panel with an authoritative stride. "Let's see now, December 28, 2010, 11 a.m. should do it. Nuvema Town, Unova Region." Smiling and cackling slightly with glee, the man pulled out a tubular device that was silver on the front end with copper plating underneath. Underneath that, the device had a black segment followed by a white handle, which terminated with an copper back end. The front end of the device also sported a green light. He pressed a button on the top, causing the green light at the front end to shine, and a whistling noise to emit from the device. Putting away the device, the man yanked down on a lever, perhaps a tad harder than he should. Happy with what he had done, the man threw his head back and let out a joyful scream. "GERONIMO!"

* * *

Author's notes: Alright then, I bet you're all already aware. This is an OC-submit story, so here's what you all came for. The form. Please submit all entries by PM. And be aware that your OC may be killed off during the story, though that may be rare since killing characters is not something I take lightly. You may submit up to three OCs. Any OCs submitted through anonymous reviews will be automatically rejected. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed. Flames will be deleted.

A little game to play: The first person to correctly guess the identities of the three characters at the end of the chapter will be permitted an extra Eeveelution, pseudo-Legendary, or shiny Pokemon for one of their OCs. Send me any answers to this game by PM please. Hints: They are not Pokemon characters, and the dates are significant. The franchise they come from is listed as one of my intrests on my profile. The number of Pokemon an OC is allowed to have at most is also a hint.

Name: Nothing wild, just a name any regular person could have.

Gender: Come on, do I need to explain this?

Age: 10-19

Hometown: Anywhere in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, or Unova. It has to actually exist, mind you.

Appearance: What do they look like? Include height, stature, and any markings such as scars, tattoos, birthmarks, etc.

Clothes: What do they wear? I won't hesitate to debut your OC naked if you leave this blank.

Personality: Give me at least seven sentences. I doubt that it would kill you to meet that requirement.

History: Give me at least a paragraph.

Position: Are you a Trainer? Working for Team Plasma?

Pokemon: Four to six Pokemon from Generations I-V. No Legendaries. You are permitted up to three Eeveelutions (including Eevee), pseudo-Legendaries (unevolved or evolved), or shiny Pokemon per OC. Give personality, and 4 moves for each Pokemon. Indicate if unevolved Pokemon are to evolve or not.

Reserve Pokemon: You are permitted up to seven reserves. The rules for Eeveelutions, pseudo-Legendaries, and shinies apply for both team Pokemon and reserves combined.

Future Pokemon: Any Pokemon you would like your OC to obtain later? As long as you don't already have 13 Pokemon in your team and reserves combined, you may add some here.

Romance (optional): What kind of guy or girl might your OC be attracted to, if any?


	2. Stranded in Unova!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

Author's notes: Well, it seems like no one guessed the answer to the game for the previous chapter. The characters are the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams, the current protagonists of Doctor Who, which in the words of Wikipedia, is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious and eccentric human-like alien centuries of years old known as "the Doctor", who travels throughout time and space in his time machine, the TARDIS (an acronym for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space), which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s British police box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and saves civilizations, helping people and righting wrongs. The Doctor has been played by eleven actors, with the Eleventh Doctor being the current incarnation. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show as regeneration, whereby the character of the Doctor dies and takes on a new body and appearance, and, to some extent, a new personality, whist retaining all past memories. Although each portrayal is different, and on occasion the various incarnations have even encountered one another, they are all meant to be the same character.

Technically, this makes the story a crossover, but it's mainly focused on Pokemon. The reason I didn't put it in the crossover section is because few people even read the stories there. For everyone's benefit, I'll include a glossary of sorts at the end of the chapter so people can understand Doctor Who references. A bolded number follows each reference. Do let me know if there is a reference that might need clarification, and I may add it in the glossary. Chronologically, this story takes place shortly after the Doctor Who episode "A Christmas Carol".

* * *

_"The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the sam__e place is that the same place isn't there the second time." _– Willie Tyler

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 2: Stranded in Unova!**

* * *

_(TARDIS control room, Unknown time and place.)_

Slightly taken aback by her companion's scream, the woman rushed straight back into the massive room she had left only a few minutes ago, stumbling forward at the sudden lurch of her surroundings to the right, and landing in a messy, crumpled heap at the room's entrance.

The brown haired man, startled to attention by the noise, perked up and noticed his companion almost immediately. "Well, there you are, Pond **(1)**. What brings you back here so quickly? Done with your preparations already? Though I must say, that's one unusual place to take a nap if you ask me."

Ignoring the man's dry humor, Amy Pond stumbled to her feet, grabbing hold of the doorframe for support. While she was used to the Doctor's antics, she had not seen him this excited to venture forth into an unknown world before. Well, unknown to her at least. Though she had only seen him in his eleventh incarnation, she often wondered what his past lives were like. "I see that _you _appear to have finished your own preparations, Doctor. I don't believe I've seen you this excited to fling yourself into an adventure. It's almost like you're asking the Grim Reaper to swing his oh-so-large scythe down on your head each time."

"Always the eager one, eh Pond? No matter, this world will knock your socks off when you see it, I guarantee you."

"If I had a pound **(2)** for every time you made a comment along those lines…"

"_Oh shut up._ Where's your sense of adventure? Look, we're almost there already. Brace yourself. GERONIMO!" Amy could feel the wind whoosh past her ears as the TARDIS took another lurch to the left, which would leave anyone afraid of thrill rides with wet pants and vomit trickling from the corners of their mouths.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 28, 2010, 11 a.m.)_

Located on the southeasternmost edge of Unova, the small town of Nuvema could be described as relatively peaceful. It was certainly quiet enough that many a person chose to live out his or her retirement there. Most prominently, it was the home of the region's resident Pokemon Professor, Professor Juniper, making the town an ideal spot for many Trainers to receive their starter Pokemon. The peace would soon be shattered as a blue British police call box materialized behind a tree with a distinct whooshing sound.

The doors opened with a slow creak as the Doctor stuck his head out before fully stepping outside to examine the surroundings. "Well, this looks to be the place, considering that sign over there… Come along you two, time's a-wasting. Chop chop!" Somewhat befuddled by the Doctor's high level of enthusiasm, his two companions tentatively took their first steps outside the TARDIS into this new land. Looking around, Amy's first impression of the settlement reminded her of her own hometown of Leadworth in England. Granted, Nuvema Town was slightly larger, but still had a rustic small town feel to it. Before she could take in her surroundings any further, the blonde haired man next to her was startled by a large flock of about thirty small gray, white-bellied pigeon-like creatures with black stripes on their wings and backs flying overhead close to the group.

The Doctor chuckled at the other man's shock, and waited a moment from the man to gather his thoughts into coherent words. "W-What are those b-birds?" The Doctor grinned in amusement, for the blonde haired man was known for being quite timid at times. The fact that he proposed to and married the feisty, stubborn, and headstrong Amy must have taken a lot of courage on his part.

"Looks like you just got your first encounter with this world's fauna. Those creatures are a species which the locals refer to as _Pidove_. Facinating little things, if you ask me, though their behavior is largely unlike that of a common pigeon."

Amy tried to suppress a laugh at the Doctor's comments. "_Pidove?_ That's seriously what they're called? Wow..."

Unimpressed, the Doctor turned to face her. "Don't laugh, Pond. I'm sure your world is filled with creatures whom the locals here believe must be named whilst the discoverer was high on hallucinoginic drugs. Anyhow, now that we're here, might as well take a look around...excuse me!" Rory and Amy struggled to keep up as the Doctor tore off across a field **(3)**, tapping on the shoulder of a passing man in a business suit. "We just arrived here and all, and I was wondering if you could tell us where the local Pokemon professor's lab is."

The man shrugged before gesturing with his hand. "Professor Juniper's lab? Sure. You just follow this road down for the next mile or so, the take a sharp right turn. It's the third building down the lane, with the orange roof and steel radio tower. You can't miss it."

The Doctor beamed at him. "Thanks, mate. And nice bow tie **(4)**, I like it." With that, the Doctor turned tail and ran off in a straight path down the street, his companions in hot pursuit.

"Wait up, Doctor!"

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, December 28, 2010, 11:15 a.m.)_

As the helpful man had described it, the Doctor soon found himself staring at a large building with an orange roof and a yellow facade. A steel-gray radio tower was attached to the building's far side, no doubt to broadcast the Professor's lectures on Pokemon throughout Unova, and perhaps beyond. A short distance away from the building was a glass greenhouse. A wide open space could be seen beyond the building, designed as living quarters for reserve Pokemon caught by Unova-born Trainers. Something was off about the building's appearance today, however. Branded in unusual locations all over the roof and facade were strange black scorch marks, ostensibly from a cause that can only be described as "out of the ordinary". The pavement in front and the surrounding field also boasted the same marks, as did the top of the radio tower, which was almost completely blackened. The Doctor crossed his arms and began eying the sight, waiting for his companions to catch up to him. He need not wait long, for they soon came, panting and out of breath. Needless to say, neither was pleased with his sudden desire to run a marathon here.

"One day, Doctor, you're going to be the death of me. Why are we here?" snapped Amy.

The Doctor's face didn't fail to drop its enthusiastic grin. "Since we came to this world, and you've already encountered only _one_ species of the local fauna, I figured that this would be a fine opportunity for you to be educated on these creatures. After all, this town does play host to a renowned expert in the field. You could call such people the equivalent to your world's biologists."

Rory finally stopped panting, and began to scan the building's front, like the Doctor had done only minutes before, particularly the scorch marks. "Odd choice of exterior decoration this person has, I must say. You'd think he or she would have fired the landscaper before he got the job to paint."

The Doctor looked pensive. "Yes, and that's what gets me. There's no way these marks were applied deliberatly by a painter, heck, they aren't even paint to begin with. I wonder..." Before his companions knew it, the Doctor was on his hands and knees next to one of the scorch marks on the pavement. He bowed his head towards it and gave it a long lick before standing up **(5)**. "Yep, definitely not paint. Someone or something _burned_ this spot rather recently, causing that mark. And you know what's the strange thing? That's an _electrical_ burn, caused by a bolt that must at least be two thousand megavolts strong. Question is, what could have caused such a burn?" The Doctor turned his attention to the radio tower. "The lightning rod on the top of that tower was unable to draw all of the charge, resulting in scorch marks all over the building. Thing is, judging from the locations of the marks, the source of the electricity was multidirectional. Whatever it was struck the building and its immediate surroundings many times over. There's no apparent damage beyond that, so it almost seems as if the source was _targetting _this structure."

Amy scoffed. "Come on, Doctor, lightning doesn't just target one spot."

The Doctor put on a serious expression. "I never said it was lightning, Pond. Do try to keep up. Well, it doesn't look like we'll accomplish much by standing around here now, will we?" With that, the Doctor strode up to the door and rapped on it a few times with his knuckles. "Hello in there! Is there anyone home?"

A seventeen year old, 5'7" man answered the door. He was pale and sickly with a physical appearance that evoked weakness. Dressed in a white lab coat and blue jeans with a short-sleeved black shirt under the coat, he had spiked up and dark brown hair, brushed to the left to cover an eye. His uncovered right eye was emerald green. Behind his hair, one would have seen that his left eye was a foggy green, with a scar across its surface, devoid of any ability to see. On his feet were a pair of black and blue sneakers." Yes? And you are?"

The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a card of psychic paper that, for intents and purposes, appeared to be blank, waving it in the man's face **(6)**. "I'm Doctor John Smith **(7)**, here to see Professor Juniper for an introductory lecture on Pokemon, and these are my assistants, Rory and Amy."

The man eyed the paper for a minute, before stepping aside to grant the group admission. "Of course, you must be the researchers who had that appointment today. But I thought you had called in earlier to cancel?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. It appeared that someone else was initially scheduled to see the professor today. It was a rare coincidence, and one he would not hesitate to take advantage of. "Yeah well, Rory here, who was sick with a spot of flu the other day, got better earlier this morning in fact. So we decided to show up anyways." The man did not look too pleased with the Doctor's remark, but quickly tried to hide his displeasure. Rory himself raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's deception, but a warning gaze from the Time Lord **(8)** told him to be quiet.

The man cleared his throat once. "I see, well come in and take a seat. I'll inform Professor Juniper of your arrival. I'm sure she'll be pleased to meet you all." The group was escortered into a waiting room while the man disappeared down a corridor.

Before long, Professor Juniper emerged from that same corridor. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Doctor Smith." She nodded towards the other two people in the room. "Rory and Amy, how are you today?"

They only smiled at her comment, deciding to let the Doctor do the talking, since he obviously had some knowledge of how this world worked. "Oh not too bad. On to why we are here. Thing is, we aren't exactly from these parts, so I was wondering if you would tell us a little about Pokemon." There was that word again. _Pokemon._ Rory and Amy fumbled their brows. After hearing the Doctor utter it for the third time, they were keen on pulling him aside to ask exactly what it's definition was.

Professor Juniper nodded. "Let's go into one of the research rooms, it's quieter there." The group was led into one of the laboratory's interior chambers, passing another room littered with smashed glass and twisted metal. "I apologize for the mess. You may find this hard to believe, but yesterday night, my lab was struck by energy directly from Zekrom, and long story short, there was a massive electical blowout."

The Doctor visibly flinched at the mention of that name, something that did not go unnoticed by Amy. "Doctor?"

The Time Lord ignored her and directed his attention at the professor. "Hold up a minute. How in the name of Gallifrey **(9)** did you know it was Zekrom that did this? It could have been something else altogether, for all you know."

The professor turned her head to face the Doctor. "I'm positive. The lightning rod on my radio tower was unable to redirect most of the electricity due to the immese power of the current. There was a huge black cloud in the sky, like the eye of a hurricane, with large blue lightning bolts emitting from it, which immediatly disappeared after a few minutes. Legends speak of a cloud like it representing Zekrom's watchful eye as a divine being, and the lightning bolts, its hammer of judgement as the support for the sky."

The Doctor was taken aback by those words, and left to his thoughts. _"Guess I'll have to give her the benefit of the doubt. The electricity was clearly of an aerial nature, judging from the burn patterns, and I know few Electric-type Pokemon exist who can even fly that high to begin with, many of them very powerful. Any normal Pokemon's electricity would have been caught by the lightning rod and unable to cause that damage, assuming they can even reach the altitude to begin with. To my knowledge, only four Legendary Pokemon exist of the Electric-type. Raikou isn't found in Unova, so it can be ruled out. Besides, it can't even fly. By logic, that also rules out Zapdos, also not native to Unova. That just leaves Thundurus and Zekrom. Thundurus is known by the people as a mischievous creature of thunder and lightning. Sure, he roams Unova, but I doubt he would stop to attack a place devoted to the benefit of Pokemon like this, he usually attacks fields and crops. Besides, he isn't associated with dark storm clouds, and isn't nearly as powerful, since his scorch marks aren't as intense as the ones outside the lab. As much as I hate to think it, she may very well be right about Zekrom. She sure knows her legends, but that's to be expected. Not to mention that Zekrom's certainly capable of this much destruction, and more. It and Reshi-... No, **it** was the creature that destroyed Unova all those years ago..." _

The Doctor was soon snapped out of his thoughts by a question posed from Rory. "Excuse me, but what's a Zekrom?" Amy looked like she wanted to know as well. Both the Doctor and Professor Juniper looked at the two as if they just sprouted two extra heads.

With a shrug, the Doctor decided to answer the question. "Zekrom. A legendary Pokemon held in _high esteem_ by the people of Unova. It is a dragon-like creature which controlled the vast power of lighting and thunder, and represented the deep and infinite bonds between people and Pokemon." Professor Juniper nodded, agreeing with the Doctor's assessment.

Rory was persistant in his questions. "But what are Legendary Pokemon, let alone Pokemon?"

The professor smiled. "My, you really aren't from these parts, are you. I guess that's why I'm here. Come into my library, we'll discuss this further."

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Library, December 28, 2010, 12:30 p.m.) _

"So let me get this straight. Pokemon are the creatures that live in this world, there are currently 649 species known, and a small fraction of them are very rare and powerful _Legendaries_ that represent pivotal aspects of nature?" asked Rory.

The Doctor beamed at his companion, shuffling slightly in the large oak chair he was seated on. The rest of the group sat in similarly shaped chairs. "That's right, Rory. You're getting the hang of this."

"And people befriend these creatures or Pokemon, capture some occasionally, and use them in battles? Doesn't that sound barbaric and unethical?"

"Not really. You see, the Pokemon themselves form close bonds with their Trainers, and grow stronger and more powerful from battling others. Sure, there are some wins and loses, but in the long run, things work out for both sides. You can only experience it yourself to fully understand what I mean. I can tell you, raising a Pokemon properly with love and care is truly one of the most noble and rewarding things a person in this world can hope to accomplish. They come in all shapes and sizes, and all are truly amazing in their own right. Battling with Pokemon is a popular pastime here after all."

Rory was awestruck by the Doctor's favorable tone towards the creatures known as Pokemon. "It sounds like something that one must experience then."

The Doctor smiled. "It is."

Professor Juniper looked impressed at the Doctor's knowledge herself. "My oh my, Doctor. It looks like you already know quite a lot about Pokemon yourself. Are you sure you even needed me to explain this to your assistants? You look like you could have done a fine job of it all on your own. Are you really not from these parts?" Before the Doctor could answer, the sky grew ominously dark, and in a matter of seconds, large masses of white clouds darkened and began to circle in the "hurricane's eye" formation all too familar to Professor Juniper, having already witnessed the sight the previous night before. The Doctor stood up from his seat, kicking it backwards with a start. His face was contorted into an expression that belied a mix of confusion, recognition, and fury. Large blue lightning bolts shot out from the cloud, several striking the building hard.

Professor Juniper registed an expression of shock and awe. "That's what I saw yesterday, that's Zekrom again!" The Doctor clenched his fists. Amy's eyes widened, unable to tear her eyes away from the window, for fear that she might blink and miss something important. Rory shuddered in his seat, torn between staying where he was, and running out the room. A single large lightning bolt was headed straight for the library's window.

The Doctor quickly spun around the face the other people in the room. "EVERYONE GET DOWN NOW!" The effect was instantaneous as all in the room quickly crouched behind their chairs while the Doctor took refuge behind a conveniently placed bookshelf. The bolt of blue lightning struck the window head-on, superheating it, and quickly causing it to shatter, scattering red hot glass shards far and wide to every corner of the room. Dashing from his hiding place, the Doctor leapt out the windowframe, and ran up to the swirling cloud. "ZEKROM! I SEE YOU SOMEHOW GOT YOURSELF UNSEALED, EH? WELL, GOOD FOR YOU! LOOKING FOR YOUR MORTAL ENEMY NOW? WELL, HERE I AM, AND TOTALLY UNARMED! REMEMBER THAT VERY DAY I STOOD IN YOUR WAY! SO, LOOK AT ME, I'M A TARGET **(10)**!" A bolt of blue lightning shot from the cloud straight for the Doctor, but he leapt out of the way. This happened three more times before the cloud moved itself away from the laboratory, and headed for the outskirts of town. "Wait a minute... OI! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" The Doctor soon got his answer as he saw the cloud emit a few lightning bolts near a far off tree, and immediately felt a red hot sensation in his pocket. Digging his hand out of there, he pulled a gold colored Yale-type key, which was emitting a red-yellowish glow.

Before he could think about what happened, Rory and Amy were running out the building to join him. In particular, Amy was rather livid. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, DOCTOR? You could have gotten yourself killed! You could have gotten us killed, for God's sake **(11)**!"

Rory quickly calmed his wife down, and turned to the Doctor. "That was Zekrom? It looked as if you knew it sometime in the past."

The Doctor continued to stare at the key in his hand, puzzled, before his features quickly shifted to alarm. "No time for that. The TARDIS key **(12)** is hot... Something must have happened to the TARDIS!" Turning his head in the direction he last saw the cloud, the Doctor noticed that it had vanished, and smoke streamed from the spot its lightning had struck. The Doctor gestured to his companions to follow him, as he ran in the direction of his beloved time machine and spacecraft.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, December 28, 2010, 12:45 p.m.) _

"So you said that you saw that man challenge Zekrom from where you were?"

The man who had answered the door at the laboratory for the Doctor replied in the affirmative into his cell phone. "Yes, and he appeared to know Zekrom as well. Either way, Zekrom was angry at him for some reason, it repeatedly shot lightning at the man."

The stoic voice on the other end of the line let out a contemplative hum. "Well, keep observing him while he's there, and continue your duties as ordered, Adam."

The man's expression remained stoic. "Yes sir."

Adam terminated the call.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, December 28, 2010, 12:55 p.m.)_

"You think he's telling the truth today? That he wasn't leading us on when he called in about last night's Zekrom encounter?" The seven men sat around the table in the same darkened room as the night before.

The second man slammed his fist against the table's surface, eying the first man, the one who had spoken. "Adam Colt is one of our most efficient agents. Besides, how can there be deception when what happened last night is all over this morning's news!"

The first man narrowed his eyes and pointed at the black sphere resting on the table. "WE HAVE THE DARK STONE IN OUR POSSESSION! THE VERY CORE OF ZEKROM ITSELF! So tell me, HOW COULD ZEKROM _POSSIBLY _BE ROAMING ABOUT IF IT IS RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF OUR EYES?"

The third man looked at the stone contemplatively. "Perhaps the stone's a fake?"

The comment only served to make the first man angrier. "THE STONE IS _NOT _A FAKE! I MADE SURE OF IT MYSELF!"

The fourth man at the table decided to step in before things got out of hand. "We can't be sure that the cloud at Nuvema Town really is Zekrom. Granted, it has appeared several times elsewhere in Unova before. But we still have to wait and see if the stone is genuine, which would mean that the cloud is something else altogether. I'd say we keep observing the man who confronted the cloud, if it is Zekrom. He clearly has history with it." The first man slumped in his seat as he reluctantly agreed to that plan.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, TARDIS control room, December 28, 2010, 1:10 p.m.)_

Copious amounts of large yellow sparks were flying out all over from the control panel, as the Doctor's upper half was underneath it, trying to get to the bottom of the problem. Smoke also billowed out of the cylinder in the middle of the room.

Rory and Amy stood back as the Doctor tried to assess the problem. Amy took the opportunity to ask the million pound question. "What happened, Doctor?"

The Doctor responded without moving his body from the controls. "What happened? What happened? Zekrom happened, that's what! The TARDIS' power cores are completely fried due to an overload of artron energy **(13)**. Granted, the TARDIS itself runs on the stuff, but too much of it has that effect. And I can't fix it with the sonic screwdriver **(14)**. I'll have to leave the TARDIS to repair herself manually **(15)**. Could take weeks or months."

Amy did not look pleased with the Doctor's explaination. "Oh joy, so we're stranded here then?"

"Don't think of it that way, Amy. We could spend some time exploring this wonderful land. I'm sure it'll be a nice follow-up to your honeymoon."

"I guess... You still haven't told us how you know so much about Zekrom, let alone how you know so much about this world."

"All in good time, now I think that since we'll be staying here for a while, might as well do what the locals do, and get our very own Pokemon."

"Like pets?"

"Pokemon are way more intelligent than any animals on Earth, I can assure you of that. Let's head to Professor Juniper's lab then. She does hand out starter Pokemon to beginning Trainers after all."

As the Doctor locked the TARDIS and walked back to the laboratory with his companions, he was left alone with his thoughts. "_If Professor Juniper is to be believed, Zekrom is now out and about. To my knowledge on the other hand, that dragon was sealed away long ago. Could the cloud even be Zekrom? It shot a burst of artron energy, and I'm pretty sure Zekrom doesn't have that ability. Still, it doesn't look like she has anything to hide… And I can't deny the appearance of that large thunderstorm cloud either. The power radiating from it, it was strong enough to seriously damage the TARDIS! It appears that we will be stranded here for a while, since the ol' girl needs some time to repair herself… If Zekrom's now free… This can't be his doing, can it? Unlikely as it may be, I can't rule out that possibility. If it is him, why haven't I sensed him yet? And if it isn't him, some other force must be at work here. This warrants further investigation. Might as well take a long journey through Unova, we can't do anything else but wait, and who knows how long that will take, since the power cores are damaged. Exploring the region is also a perfect opportunity to scope around for more information on what's really going on here. Chances are good that the TARDIS will fix herself completely before our journey's done, but there won't be any way to reach her before that point, considering the vastness of this land. Oh well then… Guess we'll be taking an extended vacation here."_

* * *

Author's notes: And that wraps up the second chapter. Here's the glossary. The TARDIS Index File Wiki is a great source if anyone wants to find out more about these references.

(1) The Doctor has a habit of frequently referring to Amy by just her last name.

(2) Doctor Who is a British show, and thus the British pound currency is frequently referenced.

(3) The Doctor is highly active, and will frequently run a lot to get around on his adventures. Some of his companions have described that as the single most defining experience in adventures they have had with him.

(4) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation is particularly fond of bow ties, and will frequently insist that they are "cool", despite what anyone else says.

(5) Members of the Doctor's race have the ability to identify the age, material, and mineral and chemical composition of objects by taste.

(6) Psychic paper is one of the Doctor's tools, being a blank, white card that has special properties. When shown to a person, it could usually induce them to see whatever the user wished them to see printed on it, usually passing off as phony identification.

(7) John Smith is one of the Doctor's aliases that he gives when a name is required, and is probably his most frequently used one.

(8) Time Lords are the race of aliens the Doctor belongs to.

(9) Gallifrey is the Doctor's home planet.

(10) This is a reference to a line from the episode "The Pandorica Opens", when the Doctor leapt in front of a gun to draw its fire.

(11) With the exception of his seventh incarnation, more often than not, the Doctor does not have a plan of action when dealing with problems from the get-go, and will frequently improvise and make one up as he goes along. Sometimes, he engages in reckless and dangerous behavior to do so. His eleventh incarnation is particularly associated with that trait.

(12) The TARDIS' key has special properties, and glows hot to inform the Doctor if something has happened to the TARDIS, such as when it is damaged or has repaired itself manually. The key can also be used to locate the TARDIS.

(13) Artron energy is a form of energy that stems from time travel itself, as well as a form of life essence similar to aura. The TARDIS also uses it as an energy source.

(14) The sonic screwdriver is the Doctor's most famous tool, with many functions and uses. It's a magic wand of sorts for the Doctor, and has been used to fix most of his problems. The tubular device used by the Doctor in the previous chapter is the sonic screwdriver.

(15) If the TARDIS sustains major damage, it could be left to its own devices, where it would repair itself.

And I'm still accepting OCs, if anyone's interested in sending them in. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**


	3. The Pain of a Time Lord

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"But the time has come for journalists to acknowledge that a zone of privacy does exist." _- Roger Mudd

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 3: The Pain of a Time Lord**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 28, 2010, 1:45 p.m.)_

Having just left the TARDIS, the Doctor continued his walk through Nuvema Town with Rory and Amy. For the most part, walking ahead of them, he occupied himself with absorbing the sights of the town.

It was then that Rory decided it was an opportune time to ask the Doctor one of the many questions that plagued him since leaving the familiarity of the blue police call box. "So Doctor, what sort of Pokemon does Professor Juniper give out to beginning Trainers?"

The Doctor looked confused. "What? Didn't she already tell you that earlier?"

Rory shook his head. "Well, she only said that they had a choice between three Pokemon in each region. Or weren't you paying any attention? A Grass-type, Fire-type, and Water-type, I believe?"

The Doctor looked mildly offended. In all the excitement, he had forgotten that the professor did not tell his companions this juicy bit of information _yet_. The black cloud, if it was Zekrom, saw to it. "Of course I was paying attention. I was just, uh, _testing _you. Yes, that's right, testing you. Now let's see here. Unova typically offers its rising stars a choice between three very special and distinct Pokemon. Of course, every Pokemon is special and distinct in its own right, but that's beside the point. Now, the Grass-type starter Pokemon for this region is Snivy, a little green snake with arms and legs..."

Amy muttered under her breath. "Snakes have limbs now? Oh come on..."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Amy's derisive remark, prompting her to roll her eyes in response. "Oh _shut up_. Don't bark until you've seen it, Pond. If you would just let me finish... Now where was I in my oh so brillant explaination before you cut it short? Oh that's right, Snivy. Little green snake...'bout 2'00" tall, and 17.9 lbs on average. Generally has a calm and cool demenor, quite intelligent, and very speedy. Blink and you might miss it. It also tends to be quite _snide_. Because of this temperment, many Trainers consider it the hardest to raise. It reminds me of someone I know **(1)**."

The Doctor turned around and briefly fixed his gaze on Amy. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The Doctor chuckled at the hotheaded Scottish woman. "Oh nothing, just the ramblings of an old man **(2)**. Moving right along, for the Fire-type, Trainers have the option of Tepig, which resembles, for all intents and purposes, an orange piglet, roughly 1'08", and typically 21.8 lbs. Little playful bundles of joy and energy, if you ask me, their demenors are like that of puppies, and more often than not, are commonly the easiest to raise. But they are quite good on offense, and can pack quite a surprising wallop for their small size. Just don't underestimate one when you see it."

"Those are interesting choices." remarked Rory.

"They are, aren't they? Remarkable, I'd say. Last but certainly not least is Unova's Water-type starter, a little blue sea otter by the name of Oshawott. Normally registers 1'08", same height as Tepig, and expected to be 13 lbs. How to describe its demenor... It's like a knight or samurai, brave, bold, courageous little critters. Carries a shell it uses as a sword or shield, won't hesitate to use it when it or those close to it are threathened, very good at ranged attacks, which I belive are its strong suit."

Rory looked more optimistic. "I think I might be looking forward to our expanded trip here. Could be interesting, eh Amy?"

The woman shrugged. "I'll see about it and let you know later, I think."

Still walking in front, the Doctor spun around in a circle to face the couple, almost colliding with a nearby green lamppost in the process. "Now that's the spirit. See, this might not be so bad." Rory and Amy overtook the Doctor while the Time Lord walked slowly behind, relegated to his thoughts. _"Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. How I long to see those creatures again. And how could I ever forget you as well... Serperior... Emboar... Samurott..." _A single teardrop rolled down his face as the Doctor let out a soft but drawn-out sigh, continuing his walk behind the newlyweds.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, December 28, 2010, 2 p.m.)_

Adam Colt answered the door, unsurprised to see the Doctor, Rory, and Amy standing in front of him. "Ah, how _nice_ to see you back so soon, Doctor Smith, I'll get Professor Juniper to come meet you. I'm sure you want to get a hold of her again for something."

"Who is it, Spenser?"

Adam turned around to see the professor emerging from the corridor, and briefly bit his lip at the false name he'd adopted to take up work in the laboratory without drawing suspicion, Spenser Martin. "Just Doctor Smith and his assistants, Professor."

"Well now, don't just leave them outside in the cold, invite them in why don't you? Where are your manners?" Despite the gentle chiding tone of Professor Juniper's voice, Adam couldn't help but feel as if someone had whipped him across the face with a hand towel doused in ice-cold water. He supressed a silent snarl as he allowed the three people ouside to follow him into the building. "By the way, Spenser, we are running low on starter Pokemon. Be sure to call the Pokemon League to have them send some more as soon as possible. I have no idea when we will be expecting a new Trainer yet, and it would be rude and inconvenient if he or she were unable to choose the desired Pokemon, wouldn't it? Although the latest few Pokemon have been acting quite _timid_ around their new Trainers. That's odd..."

"Indeed. I'll make the necessary calls, Professor." With a curt bow to Professor Juniper's guests, Adam strode off down the same corridor Professor Juniper walked out of a few minutes ago, his orders from headquarters still fresh in his mind.

_As part of our goal to seperate people and Pokemon, we shall aim directly for the source. You are to terrorize Professor Juniper's starter Pokemon. Make them afraid, make them hate humans. For every new Trainer who fails to bond with his or her starter, there's one less threat to our plan._

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Research Chamber 2, December 28, 2010, 2:10 p.m.)_

"Now then, what can I do for you this time, Doctor Smith?"

Sitting in his chair, the Doctor immediately remembered the reason he was so keen on returning to the laboratory. "Well you see, it appears that my assistants and I would be staying in Unova for the long run, and we don't have any of our own Pokemon. I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to let us each have one to start with."

Professor Juniper raised an eyebrow. "No Pokemon, Doctor? And you seem to know quite a lot about the world as well. Why, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that you already had a strong team to back you up."

"Yeah, I _never_ did get the chance to train my own Pokemon, especially due to my upbringing. But I was so enthralled with them that I strove to learn all that I could, in hopes of one day being able to have one of my very own." The Doctor sighed. He wished that he didn't have to lie to such a nice woman, but truth was sometimes stranger than fiction, and telling the truth in this circumstance might wind up getting him dismissed as a joke. If anything, this was a new slate, a way to help him cope with his own past pain.

"How sad. You must have missed out on so much. Don't worry, it's never too late to start, I believe I still have some yet. But I have received calls from some new Trainers that their Pokemon are having a hard time bonding to them. They seem almost _traumatized_, and I am at a lost for why that may be."

"That's fine. I'm sure I can mak-" Before the Doctor could continue speaking, he was interrupted by the sound of hard knocking on the door.

"Please excuse me for a minute. Spencer, could you get the door? Anyways, you were saying?"

"Yes, about the condition suffered by the Pokemon. I'm sure I can help them overcome their conditions."

Amy chose to speak up on the Doctor's behalf. "Trust me, he's done it already for many poeple he has met." Before Professor Juniper could reply, Adam returned with a slender 5'5" tanned skinned girl following behind him. At sixteen years of age, she had waist length messy blue hair, some of it nearly covering her sky-blue eyes. Some freckles were speckled on her nose. She wore a white T-shirt with under a black vest, with gray-brown shorts full of pockets held up by a silver belt buckle. Strapped to her feet were black flip-flops. Her accessories consisted of a silver necklace with a small triangular ruby pendant, and a small brown backpack.

The girl boldly stepped forward, while Adam left the room, closing the door behind him. "Professor Juniper, it's a honor to meet you... Oh, you already have guests here. In that case, I apologize for any intrusion, I can wait if you prefer, or I can come back later."

Her suggestion was quickly vetoed by the Doctor. "Oh no, stay, you've obviously taken quite a while to get here so you could see Professor Juniper."

The girl was taken back by the Doctor's correct assessment. "How did you..."

The Doctor let out a small, knowing smile, and slightly waved his right hand in a vibrant hand gesture. "Just consider it a hunch based on your physical state. Eager, with a slight layer of sweat discernable on your clothes. You've been running quite a bit. **(3)**"

The girl looked slightly surprised, and perhaps mildly amused and facinated while Amy scrowled at the Doctor. "Doctor, that was rude!"

The Time Lord cut off his companion with a hushing noise **(4)**. "Oh _shut up_, Pond. What's an observation without honesty? I was just noting what I observed. You lot should keep your eyes peeled more often **(5)**."

The girl shook her head slightly. "Nah, it's alright, I've kinda been in a rush actually. I'm surprised no one else noticed this. But yeah, I like to keep my observational skills sharp. I'm a journalist of sorts, I travel around the regions looking for that 'scoop'. And when I find it, I write an article for the paper. I'm Miri Olean, by the way."

The Doctor's companions slowly began to introduce themselves. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rory Williams, and this is my wife Amy."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Williams? You go by Pond now, don't you **(6)**?"

Rory let out a sigh. "Doctor, that's not how it works."

"Yes, it is." Rory sighed, not having the stamina to carry a prolonged argument with either the Doctor or Amy. "My turn, yes. You can call me the Doctor."

Miri seemed interested. "A doctor? What of, may I ask?"

"Oh, a great many things **(7)**, the list of which would take ages to get to the end of."

"I see. Professor Juniper, I was wondering if you could spare me an interview. I heard about the Zekrom sighting here yesterday night while I was in Accumula Town, and I heard that you saw it from the news this morning. I rushed here as fast as I could. I hope that you can tell me all you know."

Visibly tensing at the mention of Zekrom's name, the Doctor shoved his left hand into a jacket pocket and curled his fingers around his sonic screwdriver before deciding to speak up. "I suppose you haven't heard of the sighting today then?"

Miri looked surprised. "There was another sighting here today? Oh, this is such a huge scoop! Sorry, it's just that I really get excited when these sorts of things happen. It's not everyday that you see a Legendary Pokemon, you know, let alone two days in a row. Most people never see one at all in their entire lives. It just seems strange that Zekrom's cloud has been appearing all over the Unova region in the past few months, and it has occasionally attacked various settlements. Fortunately no one was ever hurt or killed."

The Doctor began to ponder the journalist's words. _"Zekrom has been appearing around Unova for a while now? I always did pin it as the aggresive sort, and it seems that I was right. Going around and attacking settlements like that, it's acting like a barbaric savage. So unlike Reshi-...well, I know. But was Zekrom unsealed from the Dark Stone in the first place? That's one thing I'll have to get to the bottom of. And since Zekrom noticed me, I'll bet it recognized me, despite how long it's been since it last saw me. Recognizing me across ten regenerations. _**(8)**_ That's quite a feat. Or it holds quite a grudge. If it is Zekrom, it knows that it has got me trapped here, and will likely stop at nothing to ensure that I am eliminated. I'll need to be more careful from now on." _

Miri continued to speak and the Doctor returned to paying attention as he finished up his thought processes. "I just don't see how Zekrom could have gotten unsealed from the Dark Stone. The people sealed it in that orb and put it in a deep sleep because it destroyed Unova long ago, didn't it? And then there was that other dragon..." From his pocket, the Doctor discreetly aimed his sonic screwdriver in the direction of a light fixture in the room. "I believe its name was Reshi-" The Doctor pushed the button on the sonic screwdriver, triggering its characteristic whistling noise, cutting off Miri's sentence. "Where is that noise coming from?"

Amy turned her attention to the Doctor. "Are you playing with the sonic again? Now that's really rude."

The Doctor looked rather sheepish and stopped pushing the sonic screwdriver's button. "Sorry, I was _fumbling_ around in my pocket, and must have _accidently_ pushed the button of this child's toy here." The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver, showing it to those present in the room. "You may find it strange, but its whistling noise helps me think. Some experts believe that noise at a certain frequency may actually improve brain functions if synchronized corrrectly with brain wave frequencies."

Miri scratched her head. "That sounds interesting. I might look further into that. Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, that dragon, not Zekrom, it's name was Reshi-" Miri was once again cut off as a lightbulb in the light fixture exploded, showering everyone with small amounts of glass. Luckily, no one was injured, as they took care to cover their faces. Unbeknowst to Miri and Professor Juniper, the Doctor had used his sonic screwdriver to make the lightbulb explode. Rory and Amy cast suspicious glances at the Time Lord.

The professor decided to try and say something. "Hmmm... Must be some residual charge left over from Zekrom's strike. Is everyone alright?" She got a few affirmative murmurs from those present. "Well, looks like something doesn't want this mentioned or discussed. Even though it happened long ago, it is still a sensitive subject among the minds of the people who live in this region. Let's talk about something else. For instance, this man here was brave enough to stand up to Zekrom, and prompted the Deep Black Pokemon to leave after a few of its attacks missed him. He brought up what seemed to be a past incident with Zekrom. Whatever it was, I have him to thank, for without him, I don't know when Zekrom might stop."

The Doctor suddenly looked quite proud of himself for being pointed out and thanked by Professor Juniper. "That's right, I confronted Zekrom and it attacked me, but it left. I believe that if I didn't do so, this facility might have sustained even more serious damage. No need to thank me."

Rory and Amy sighed at the Time Lord's smugness, while Miri appeared to be starstruck. "Really, you went up to Zekrom and got it to stop? That's so cool! And you met it before? Wow! So what were your past encounter or encounters like? What did you do that made Zekrom remember the incident and leave you alone?"

The Doctor's expression shifted from proud to one of discomfort. "I.."

The door to the room swung open as Adam ran in, panting and looking very much alarmed. "Professor Juniper! The starter Pokemon have disappeared, and I can't find them anywhere. I think they were spooked by Zekrom's attack and fled!"

The professor's eyes widened. "Oh no, those were the last three starters I had to distribute. We've got to find them."

The Doctor stepped forward, eager for an excuse to leave the room. "No worries, you just continue your civilized conversation, and I'll go find them. You have any idea where they went?" Adam shook his head. The Doctor shrugged and walked up to the man. "Fine, I guess I'll do this on my own. Just give me their Pokeballs." Adam complied with the request, handing the Doctor three Pokeballs, which the Time Lord took. "Anyone have a Pokeball belt as well?" Professor Juniper gestured to a closet in the room, which the Doctor strode over to and opened, grabbing the first belt he saw. It was brown and had six silver three-pronged claws were attached to it. Walking behind the closet, he removed his own belt and shoved it into his deep jacket pocket, replacing it with the Pokeball belt. The Doctor pushed the Pokeballs into three of the belt's claws, smiling when he heard them all click secrurely in place. "Alright then, I'll be off to find those three little rascals. Don't wait up for me." Before anyone knew it, all they saw was the back of the Doctor's tweed jacket out the door, and soon there was quickly no sign of him.

Amy sighed. "He _always_ does that. Can be taxing on the health sometimes. Uh, professor? Do you have anymore Pokemon to give away? I have a feeling that once the Doctor finds those three little ones, they won't want to leave his side at all. He has this charismatic charm about him, and can easily befriend many people."

Professor Juniper was quite amused, and let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I had a feeling that might happen. He does have this charm as you say that makes others gravitate towards him. Those three starter Pokemon will certainly be stuck to him like glue to paper, especially if he helps them overcome their fears like he said he would. I'll see what I have. I think I have an egg in storage that needs a good home. Would one of you lovebirds be willing to take it?"

Rory perked up at the mention of a egg, and the possibility of the baby Pokemon that might hatch from it. His job on Earth as a nurse at the Royal Leadworth Hospital gave him that interest in these things. "What sort of egg is it?"

Professor Juniper beamed at the man's eagerness. "Well, you'll just have to come and see." Miri was slightly irritated that her interviewee left like that with little warning, and decided to tag along. He was certainly the sort of person that interested her. Perhaps she could get something about him out of his two companions.

Amy had time to form some thoughts on this eventful day, which must surely have more in store for them as it progresses. _"This day just keeps on getting better and better. First we arrive on this world that the Doctor seems to know a lot about, then a black dragon attacks the lab and the TARDIS and strands us here. The Doctor runs off again to pursue some little starter Pokemon, and now we're about to see what sort of Pokemon Professor Juniper has to offer us. Zekrom sounds like one big jerk of a Pokemon, abusing its power to destroy Unova in the past like it did, and from what I can garner, there's another dragon involved in all of this, but no one seems able to say its name without being somehow interrupted. And then there's the Doctor, who appears to have some role in this mess. He seems almost uncomfortable at any mention of Zekrom, and obviously has an antagonistic relationship with it. There's evidently a lot that the Doctor isn't telling us, and probably wants to hide. When I get a hold of him again, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do."_

* * *

Author's Notes: I know that this chapter is probably mostly filler, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. In reference to the chapter title, can anyone identify the pains felt by the Doctor with regard to the Pokemon world? And here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) This is a reference to the episode "The Lodger" when Amy remains quite critical of the Doctor's efforts to blend in as an ordinary human, due to his outfit. Her "helpful hint" to him was to get rid of the bow tie. The Doctor even calls her snide due to all this.

(2) Remember that the Doctor is several centuries old, despite every suceeding incarnation (usually) getting younger and younger than his predecessor.

(3) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation is known to be quite blunt about things, and will frequently say it as it is, with no sugarcoating whatsoever.

(4) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation frequently hushed others while he trying to think.

(5) The Doctor prides himself on his keen observational skills, and can discern even minute details with a single glance. It's a trait he tries to encourage in his companions as well.

(6) The Doctor called Rory, Mr. Pond, in the episode "The Big Bang", when the man married Amy. The Time Lord honestly believed that the husband took on the wife's last name upon marriage, and insists that is the case, despite Rory's attempts to correct him.

(7) As an expert in several fields, this is what the Doctor says he is when asked what he is a doctor of. Mind you, this does include expertise in medicine, so the title is somewhat legit.

(8) The Doctor has died and regnerated ten times so far, being in his eleventh incarnation at present. Regeneration is an ability Time Lords have when they die, which totally rejuvenates and replaces all of the body's cells, healing the cause of death, and giving the Time Lord a new appearance and new personality, though core personality traits, basic ideals and beliefs are maintained. All past memories are also kept in the new incarnation. A Time Lord can regenerate a total of twelve times (for thirteen incarnations in all) before permanently dying, though methods exist by which to circumvent this limit. Time Lords can also recognize each other across incarnations. The Doctor's comment implies that Zekrom last saw him in his first incarnation, and recognized him in his eleventh.

And I believe that's it for this chapter. OCs are still being accepted. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**


	4. The Watery Darkness

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." _– Plato

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 4: The Watery Darkness**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Research Chamber 2, December 28, 2010, 3 p.m.)_

Still slightly startled from the Doctor's hastily made decision to run off and find some wayward starter Pokemon, the group was startled to hear a knock on the door. Miri, who had arrived at the laboratory almost an hour ago, was rather curious to know who could be visiting. Perhaps it was someone else she might deem interesting, someone she could interview while she waited for the Doctor to return. He was a tad rude during her first encounter with him, but she supposed she could let it slide in favor of the potential juicy details he might have to share, provided she could get him to sit still long enough for an interview, that is.

The knocking continued, and Professor Juniper quickly sent Adam off to answer the door. He quickly returned with a sixteen year old boy about 5'9", with blue eyes and near-shoulder length dark blue hair. He had a crescent moon birthmark on his right shoulder, and a scar down from the top of his left shoulder to his mid-back, in a straight and wide diagonal line. He wore a white long-sleeved turtleneck shirt under a black short-sleeved over shirt, with a black long-sleeved button up leather jacket. His dark blue pants were held up with a black leather Pokeball belt, and he has a silver ring on his right hand, and a silver shield necklace around his neck.

Professor Juniper put her hand to her chin as she tried to remember the boy. "You're Nathen. Nathen Pierce, isn't it? You've grown quite a bit since the last time I saw you. What brings you here?"

The boy simply smiled. "Good afternoon, Professor Juniper. I was in the neighbourhood and decided to say hi. I recently decided to challenge the Unova League and thought Nuvema Town was a nice place to start. Plus, I never really did get that starter Pokemon I was promised."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Oh that's right, you started your Pokemon journey in Kanto instead of Unova, your home region, and befriended a shiny Charmander, which you told me about on the phone. Guess I still owe you a starter of your own from here. Luckily, I reserved that Tepig you told me that you wanted over the phone a few months ago. Do you want to meet him?"

Nathen smiled. "Sure." He noticed the other people in the room and immediatly started a conversation. "Oh sorry, didn't see you all there. The name's Nathen."

He held out a hand, which Rory took. "I'm Rory." He gestured to the Scottish redhead. "This is my wife Amy."

Amy raised her right hand in a small wave. "Hello."

Nathen nodded before turning his attention to Miri. "And who's this lovely lady?"

Miri blushed slightly at the comment before shaking it off. "I'm Miri Olean."

Nathen smiled. "Good to meet all of you."

Professor Juniper cleared her throat. "Spencer, please prepare Tepig to meet his new friend here. And fetch that egg while you're at it." Adam nodded and ran off while the professor turned to address the others. "And the rest of us will go to the presentation room. That's where I normally show new Trainers their options for starter Pokemon, and let them choose accordingly. She turned to Rory and Amy. "Oh, you haven't learned about Unova's starter Pokemon yet."

Amy thought this was the right time to interject. "The Doctor already told us about them."

Professor Juniper smiled. "Oh did he? He does strike me as the rather educated sort as well. Let's go then." The group exited the room as Professor Juniper closed the doors behind her.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, December 28, 2010, 3 p.m.)_

The Doctor whistled as he strode along the corridors of the laboratory. It was certainly a big place, and really looked bigger on the inside than the outside, not that it was. The TARDIS was the one that truly fit that description **(1)**. _'Now if I was a little starter Pokemon scared stiff, where would I want to hide?' _The Doctor hummed as he walked up to a nearby room, the steel doors automatically opening and then closing behind him after it had granted him passage. He surveyed his surroundings. The room was small but wide and had a large amount of shelves, many of which stacked with wooden boxes or metal crates. No windows were present, and the only source of illumination were a few lights screwed to the ceiling. _'Hmmm... This must some sort of storage room. Best to check if anyone's here before moving on.'_

Unbeknowst to the Doctor, a tiny figure was watching him from the top of a hanging cabinet in a distant corner of the room. He was a small creature of evidently aquatic physiology. He had a white round head with black eyes and an orange nose, two dark triangular blue ears to the side, and speckles on either side of its mouth. His torso was light blue and it had white arms. His feet and tail were the same color as its ears. Attached to his torso was a small yellow seashell formed from keratin, commonly known as a scalchop. The Oshawott peered curiously at the Doctor, unsure of the stranger's intentions.

He soon got his answer when the Doctor began speaking. "Snivy? Tepig? Oshawott? Are any of you in here? I've come to look for you on behalf of Professor Juniper. She's worried sick about you three since you all ran off like that during the attack on the lab. I know it also happened yesterday, but I assure you there's nothing to be afraid of." Keeping a relatively straight face, Oshawott crossed his arms, careful not to make any noise against the yellow scalchop on his chest. Being noticed was the last thing he wanted, lest the stranger's intentions turn out to be anything less than benign. After the way Adam treated him and his fellow starter Pokemon, physically abusing them and showing them copious amounts of shock material, and especially for him, shutting him in a small, dark room and briefly shining lights on dummies of intimidating monsters, he was less than keen on waltzing into the arms of an unfamilar person like the stranger in front of him. Frankly, Oshawott wondered if he could even begin to trust any new Trainer he was given to, and if he would even survive leaving the comforts of the laboratory and going into the wide open world. Oshawott had done a good job of remaining hidden, since the cabinet was in a far corner of the room, and he remained largely concealed by the shadows caused by a lack of light in the area he stood.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, December 28, 2010, 3:05 p.m.)_

Adam strolled along the corridors, soon reaching the recognizable steel doors that guarded the way to the storage room. Having seen the Doctor walk inside a few minutes ago, he subtlely observed the doors and wondered how the Time Lord would hold up in there. Deciding to see how the Doctor would deal with stress, Adam deftly flicked off the light switch next to the doors. He always wondered why there was no light switch in the room, but that oversight would serve his purpose. Noticing the key card machine next to the doors, Adam reached for his neck and pulled up a yellow lanyard with a key card attached. He scanned the key card against the machine, locking access to the room. The Doctor may be tenacious, but that would slow him down for a while. And frankly, if one of the runaway starters had sought refuge in the room, it was potentially killing two birds with one stone. Adam knew for a fact that one of them was deathly afraid of the dark, and if it was in there, it may have a hard time bonding with the Doctor.

Snickering to himself, Adam rushed off, hopfully in time to meet up with Professor Juniper again. _'Now let's see how you get out of this one, Doctor.'_

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Storage Room, December 28, 2010, 3:05 p.m.)_

After probing around for a few minutes, it appeared that the Doctor was about to leave the storage room. But before he could reach the door, the power cut out, plunging the small room into darkness. The Doctor began to fumble around blindly for the door, feeling along some crates. Not an easy job when his surroundings were in almost absolute darkness.

He paused when he heard a soft voice from a distant corner of the room, that sounded like it was scared stiff. "Osha..."

The Doctor spun around. Yep, one of the runaway Pokemon did indeed taken refuge in this room, and was hiding as well. "Oshawott?" The Time Lord tried to listen for the Pokemon's presence as he scanned the room, or what he could see of it, barely anything. The Doctor had a thought. Oshawott was extremely quiet before the lights went out, and if the power was not cut, the Doctor could have left the room and not be any the wiser. Oshawott was evidently scared of the dark. The Doctor briefly considered using the light on his sonic screwdriver to illuminate his face, but decided that would be counterproductive, as it may scare the little Pokemon even further. Who knows? Perhaps the Pokemon might also be afraid of monsters in the dark.

"Osha..."

"You know, you had me nicely fooled, didn't you? I had absolutely no clue that you were in this room with me. That was brilliant. You might make a nice spy or stealth warrior one day **(2)**."

"Osha?"

The Doctor smiled at Oshawott's questioning tone. "Yeah, I'm serious. But to be one, you've got to be used to the dark. You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

"Osha... Osha..." His back facing the Sea Otter Pokemon, the Doctor couldn't see Oshawott, but instinctively knew that the little one nodded. Oshawott felt the man could perhaps be trusted after all. He exuded no malicious aura or ill intent, and appeared to be genuinely worried.

"Or are you afraid of what lurks in the dark? I know, the darkness symbolizes uncertainty to many, the unknown, if you will. It can be the realm of nightmares to kids. Let me make a confession. I was a dad once **(3)**."

"Osha?"

"Yeah, but not any more... I was a father and a grandfather once. Now I'm neither. But I'm still a doctor..." The Doctor's voice trailed off, and Oshawott felt a pang of pity for the Time Lord, though he appeared much too young to even have fully grown children, let alone outlive them. But no deceit appeared to come from the Doctor, whose voice a minute ago sounded weary with great loss. When Oshawott thought about it, the Time Lord had nothing to lose in telling him any of this. "Well, one of my kids was afraid of the dark too, you know. And you know what I told him?" Despite his fear, Oshawott suddenly felt a little more bold. Perhaps it was his evolutionary line's reputation as brave, valiant, and unrelenting warriors kicking in.

"Osha?"

"I said 'The dark covers up things that are still there, even though you can't see them. But things don't just develop in the dark that weren't already there. I know that you're feeling afraid of the dark, but I also know that there's nothing in the dark that can hurt you.'" The Doctor closed his eyes at the memory, a small smile curling up his lips as he recalled the effectiveness of those words when he spoke them so long ago. "Oshawott?"

"Osha... Wott?"

"You do want to overcome this fear of yours, don't you?"

"Osha." Another nod from the Pokemon, though the Doctor couldn't see it.

He smiled. "I suppose you see monsters in any dark room you're in, don't you?"

"Osha..."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Yeah, I see them too, but they aren't monsters, just shadows, spaces of darkness behind an object caused by light not shining on that part." The Doctor saw a vaguely humanoid figure with outreaching arms, and shone his sonic screwdriver on it. "See, it's really a stack of wooden crates and some cardboard rolls. Wonder why Professor Juniper needs cardboard rolls for, but I guess I shouldn't be prying." A standing figure with circular, slightly spiky arms was revealed to be a bicycle. "Just a bicycle. When I first rode one of those constructs, I fell flat on my face. Had the bruise there for weeks afterward." Oshawott perked slightly in surprise to hear that recollection of the Doctor. Many Trainers in the world rode bicycles to get around, almost all of whom achieved mastery of the vehicle fairly quickly with little issue. The Sea Otter Pokemon chuckled as he imagined the Doctor flat on his face. "Hey, are you laughing at me? Come on, it wasn't funny." The Time Lord's face contorted itself into a slight pout, but it quickly shifted to a smile when he realized that the Pokemon managed to make some light of it. "Let's get you down from there, Oshawott. Now how to find you..." The Doctor clicked his fingers. "I know, just take your scalchop and tap the wall where you are, and I'll follow the noise. Just trust me **(4)**."

Enthusiastic, with his spirits considerably lifted, Oshawott wasted no time in doing what was requested of him. The Doctor's sensitive hearing **(5) **allowed him to detect the Pokemon's location in no time. Soon, he was shining the green light of his sonic screwdriver on Oshawott from the Pokemon's spot on top of the cabinet, who finched slightly from seeing it, but smiled nonetheless, waving his scalchop at the Doctor.

"Oshawott!" The Doctor beamed.

"There you are. Now I just need you to jump into my arms. Don't worry, I'll catch you. Just trust me on this." The Doctor noted Oshawott's slight apprehension. "It's alright, you trusted me when I showed you the monsters were just shadows, right?" Oshawott nodded slightly. The Doctor nodded back. "Be brave, Oshawott." With that, he put the sonic screwdriver in his mouth, whilst still keeping the light focused on Oshawott. He outstretched his arms.

Replacing his scalchop on his chest, Oshawott took in a slight gulp of air and rubbed his feet against the ground, the adrenaline rushing through his blood as he walked to the end of the cabinet and ran off it in a small leap. He flew through the air and curled his body in a ball. The Doctor took a step back, and winced as the Pokemon collided with his chest. The Time Lord's arms wrapped around Oshawott and held the Pokemon close, as he slipped backwards on his feet and fell flat on his rear end, sliding about a meter before hitting his back against a shelf. Winching slightly from the impact, the Doctor took the sonic screwdriver from his mouth, thanking his lucky stars that it did not go down his throat, wiping it of any saliva.

He looked down at the Pokemon in his arms, and they shared a mutual smile. "You're brave, Oshawott. And starting to live up to your species reputation. I don't know how you got this fear in the first place. Just remember what I said about the darkness, alright?"

"Osha. Osha. Wott!"

The Doctor smiled. "That's the spirit." He walked up to the steel doors and placed his hand on them, but they did not budge. "That's odd, the doors were unlocked when I came in here, and I'm sure that was the case when you did as well, Oshawott. Hmmm... No matter." The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, aimed it at the door, and pressed the button. After a second, the doors immediately slid aside as if they were unlocked. "I just unlocked it, see?" Unsure of how the Doctor did it, Oshawott nodded as the Time Lord walked to the light switch and flicked it on, illuminating the storage room, Oshawott still in his arms. "See? Everything inside is just the same as how it was when you entered the room. No monsters at all." The Pokemon smiled. The Doctor set Oshawott on the floor before kneeling down to the Pokemon's eye level to get a good look at him. The Time Lord narrowed his eyes slightly as a mental image flashed across his mind, clear as day.

_A Samurott glared at the foe in front of him. Seeing that it did nothing to indimidate the enemy, his right hand reached for the bracers on his left forearm, the three clawed hand curling around the spike on the top bracer. With a howl, he removed the spiked bracer, drawing the beige sword from its keratin scabbard, built directly into his arm. He pointed the sword at the foe. The sword glowed yellow, and a blue aura surrounded it. His attack prepared, the Samurott got ready to charge, but the fingers of a human-like left hand placed themselves on his right hand. Turning his head in confusion, the Samurott saw a seated man who appeared to be his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair. Unusually, his head was turned away from the Samurott, facing his right instead of looking at the Pokemon. The man's right arm was stretched straight up directly in the air, his open palm showing. Keeping his hold on the Pokemon's sword-wielding hand, the man tightened his grip slightly. The sword's blue aura and yellow glow disappearing, the Samurott reluctantly sheathed his sword, but continued to glare at the mysterious foe._

"Osha?"

The Doctor shook the image from his head to see Oshawott staring at him with a confused and concerned look. "Oh, sorry about that, I just kinda spaced out for a minute." The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package wrapped in plastic, ripping it open to reveal a cookie. "Fancy a Jammie Dodger **(6)**? Nothing like having one of these to help make things better." Oshawott stared at the treat in the Doctor's hand before taking it and giving it a sniff or two. After deciding that trying a cookie was nothing compared to overcoming a fear of the dark, the Sea Otter Pokemon tossed the Jammie Dodger in the air and opened his mouth, allowing the cookie to fall in nicely. He chewed on it a few times before his eyes beamed, and his mouth curled up in a smile of approval. "Good, isn't it?"

Oshawott nodded. "Osha!"

The Doctor stood up with a smile. "Well, what do you say we go look for your friends then?"

"Osha. Wott!"

That was enough of an answer for the Doctor, as he turned his head to the corridor. "But first, I need to get more of those cookies. I'm sure your friends will appreciate them. Come on, Oshawott." The Doctor took off in a sprint, the Sea Otter Pokemon fast on his newfound friend's trail.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 28, 2010, 3:15 p.m.)_

Needless to say, Nathen and Miri were quite astounded to learn that Rory and Amy knew very little about Pokemon and the fact that the couple were new to the world. It made the two teenagers wonder where exactly they came from.

"Wait, so you're saying that a man called 'The Doctor' brought you two here?" Nathen asked.

"Yeah, quite the rushy sort, if you ask me. He just took off when Professor Juniper was informed of the missing starter Pokemon." replied Amy.

Nathen shrugged. "I hope he finds them then." Miri huffed silently, still annoyed that she didn't get a full interview with the Time Lord. Adam walked into the room carrying an egg case. Visible from the glass container was an egg that was largely pink, but had two cream colored stripes around the top and bottom of its circumference. The egg sat on a blue pillow at the bottom of the container. The yellow dome shaped lid held a Pokeball on top. Adam set the egg case down on the steel table in the middle of the room and stepped back, walking over to Professor Juniper and handing her a Pokeball.

"Thank you Spencer. Nathen, here's your very own Tepig." Nathen walked over and took the Pokeball from Professor Juniper, uttering his thanks. The professor nodded before turning her attention to the egg. "So which one of you would like to keep the egg?"

Rory shrugged. "Uh, I'll take it, if that's alright with Amy here." Amy simply nodded. "What Pokemon is in the egg?"

Professor Juniper's face suddenly sported a rather mischievous smile. "That's part of the surprise and excitement in raising a Pokemon egg. Sometimes, you just never know what's going to hatch from it."

Nathen decided that this was the right time to meet his new Pokemon. "Come on out, Tepig!" The boy tossed the pokeball in the air and out came a small piglet-like creature which was largely orange, but the front of its face, ears, and abdomen was black. It had a touch of yellow above its snout, and a small red orb on its black coiled tail. "Hello there, I'm your new Trainer, Nathen." The Tepig wasted no time in bonding with the boy, proceeding to lick his face. Nathen reached for his belt and pulled out four more Pokeballs, sending out the Pokemon within. A Charizard, Milotic, Lucario, and Luxray appeared in the room. The Charizard in particular was purplish-green where it should be orange, and red on the undersides of its wings where they would be blue. In addition, the Milotic also possessed a distinct coloration, having blue eyebrow fins and a gold tail, contrasting their normal colors of red and blue respectively. "Everyone, meet our new friend Tepig." Nathen's Pokemon all grunted their greetings to the new member of their team.

"Those are your Pokemon?" asked Amy.

"Yeah, raised them all myself." replied Nathen.

Amy turned to Miri. "Do you have any Pokemon of your own?"

Miri looked at Amy as if the woman had just grown an extra head. "Of course I do. Here they are." Miri took out four Pokeballs and flung them in the air, revealing an Azumarill, Swellow, Castform, and Lopunny.

Amy loooked quite flabbergasted at the sheer variety in shapes and sizes present in the nine Pokemon, excluding the egg. "That's quite an interesting assortment." Before anyone could reply, the doors opened and in ran the Doctor. He would have gone all the way past the group in the room but stopped himself when he noticed their presence. Oshawott followed close behind a minute later.

The Doctor looked like he was a child whose mother had just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. "Oh, erm well, this is... Nevermind." He raised both his hands. Adam's face registered a look of surprise at the Doctor's presence, wondering how on Earth he had managed to escape the locked room. "Hello everyone. Just found Oshawott here in the storage room. Funny thing though, the doors were unlocked when Oshawott and I went in, but when we tried to leave, they were sudddenly locked. Strange, isn't it? And another thing, the lights just went out all of a sudden while we were in there. I think you should get that checked. No matter, I managed to get us out of the room just fine. Well, now that that's over with, everyone, meet Oshawott." The Doctor gestured toward the small Pokemon at his feet. "Oshawott, everyone. Since I found Oshawott, that just leaves Snivy and Tepig. And so, oooo..." The Doctor stopped his sentence midway to look at the assembled Pokemon in the room, and quickly pointed all of them out. "Wow, lots of Pokemon. That's an Azumarill, Lopunny, Milotic, Castform, Lucario, Luxray, Swellow, Tepig, and Charizard. And they all look to be quite well-trained. I sense very strong bonds between those Pokemon and their Trainers. Hmmm... That Charizard isn't the color of a normal Charizard, is it? Same goes for the Milotic. No, no, don't tell me. They're shiny. Quite rare, those are indeed." The Doctor looked at the table. "And there's a Pokemon egg. I'm guessing one of you lucky folk gets to take it home, no?" Rory raised his hand slightly. "Oh, you're the proud new owner of the egg, Rory? Good on you, mate. Now, I could tell you what's inside, but I think it would be a nice surprise, wouldn't you say? Well, I've got to be off, so I'll see you all later. Come on, Oshawott." The Doctor dashed out of the room, with the Sea Otter Pokemon following close behind.

Everyone in the room, save for Rory and Amy, remained slightly stunned at the Doctor's brief appearance. The speed at which he had made all of those comments made them rather hard to follow **(7)**, so much so that it sounded like gibberish to some.

Adam was still trying to figure out how the Doctor escaped the storage room, whilst Nathen raised a question. "Who was that?"

Amy immediately had the answer. "The Doctor."

Nathen gestured to his neck. "And what's with the..."

Amy shrugged. "Bow tie. He thinks they're cool, despite how many times I've told him to get rid of it." Nathen raised an eyebrow. Miri didn't say anything about the Doctor's clothing. Her experience as a journalist has led her to meet many more people who dressed more outlandishly than the Doctor did. "Anyhow, what are 'shiny' Pokemon?"

"Pokemon that just happen to be colored differently from other members of their species. They are rather rare."

"You're lucky to find one then."

"I guess I am."

"Well, I'm going outside for some fresh air, coming Rory?"

Rory raised his head slightly. "No, I think I'll stay in here for a bit. Don't get lost now." Amy huffed in slight annoyance. Sometimes, her husband had little faith in her. She walked out the room, intent on spending some time exploring the town. Miri turned to Rory, hoping to get some information on the Doctor, but found that he was already walking out the room, egg case in hand. Besides, he didn't look interested in carryng out any form of sustained conversation. Professor Juniper and Adam had already left, having some contractors to call about the damge done to the building. Miri turned to the only person left in the room. Maybe Nathen would be in the mood to chat. It was certainly worth a try.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 28, 2010, 3:50 p.m.)_

Oshawott found himself staring at what looked to be a simple blue box with some glass windows, which the Doctor was in the process of unlocking. Succeding in his task, the Doctor strode inside and beckoned Oshawott to follow. All of the Sea Otter Pokemon's time in existance could not have prepared him for what he saw next upon stepping inside. The doors on the box led to a massive interior chamber, with doors on the far corners of the room leading off to what must surely be additional rooms. The centre of the room hosted a hexagonal control panel with unusual implements attached. A large green tinted cylinder extended from the ceiling and down to the centre of the control panel. Most people would be unable to comprehend how such a space could fit inside the confines of the exterior box.

The Doctor walked over to a wall and smiled. "Good ahead, say what you will, I've heard them all **(8)**."

"Osha..."

"Yeah, I know, it's really something huh?" The Doctor tapped on the wall. "Now, I'm going to hop on over to the kitchen and grab some more Jammie Dodgers. You should stay right here, since it's easy to get lost in the interior spaces if you're not familar with them. Just don't touch anything, okay?" With one last look, the Doctor walked off, exiting through one of the doors.

Oshawott walked over to the space that the Doctor occuped a minute before, and rested his body against the wall. Breathing out a sigh, he placed his hand against the wall, before resting his head there. The effect was instantaneous. The section of wall sprang open, catapulting Oshawott a few feet into the air. The little Pokemon fell in a heap on the other side of the room. Rubbing his head from the impact, Oshawott slowly made his way over to the open compartment, looking inside the hidden closet he had inadvertantly opened. He saw the regal outfit that the Doctor was looking over only a few hours before. Curiousity overtaking him, Oshawott walked inside and touched the bottom egde of the sheathed claymore, causing it to fall from its position on the wall. Surprised, the Pokemon jumped backward as the sword hit the floor with a thud. Oshawott quickly checked to see if the Doctor had heard the noise, but there was no sign of the Time Lord. Not having the strength to put the sword back in its proper position, the Sea Otter Pokemon hurridly pushed the wall closed, hiding the closet once again.

No sonner had he done so, that the Doctor returned from the kitchen, a bag of Jammie Dodgers in hand. He removed one of the cookies and shoved the rest in a jacket pocket. "I guess we can head out now. Want another Jammie Dodger, Oshawott?" The Pokemon smiled and happily accepted the offered treat as both of them walked out the TARDIS in search of the other two wayward starter Pokemon.

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I intended for this chapter to be longer, but thought that this was a nice place to finish it instead. Sure, Oshawott's fear of the dark was alleviated rather quickly, but it is to be noted that the Doctor is widely known as a miracle worker. Anyways, I hope I portrayed all the OCs that appeared so far as the respective owners want them. For the readers that need it, here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) The TARDIS is bigger on the inside than the outside. This is because the interior exists in a different dimension than the exterior, the junction between this interior dimension and the exterior surroundings being the TARDIS' entrance doors. The Doctor's jacket pockets function on a limited version of this concept, allowing him to store an unusually large number of items in them.

(2) Time Lords have psychic powers, and can hold conversations with animals and other such lesser creatures because of this.

(3) The Doctor is know to have fathered children in the distant past, and had a family. In fact, his granddaughter, Susan Foreman, was one of his first companion when the series began in 1963. The Doctor's comment to Oshawott is a reference to a similar comment that Dr. Constantine made to the Doctor's ninth incarnation in the episode "The Empty Child".

(4) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation frequently asks his companions and others to trust him before he begins any plan.

(5) Time Lords have exceptional hearing, and can hear sounds from several rooms away.

(6) Jammie Dodgers are a popular British sandwich cookie, made from shortbread and plum jam that the Doctor's eleventh incarnation is particularly fond of.

(7) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation has a habit of rambling, making rapid amendments to his speech, to the point where it seems like he is talking nonsense.

(8) The Doctor frequently makes notes on peoples' first reactions to entering the TARDIS. The most common one is "It's bigger on the inside than the outside.". This has been said so often that the Doctor asks people if there's anything they would like to say about the TARDIS' interior, stating that he has heard all possible responses. The Doctor's tenth incarnation even began mouthing those words behind the person's back as he or she was saying them. It has been subverted a few times as well. Amy's comment, spoken in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" was "I'm in my nightie.".

And yes, OCs are still being accepted. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**


	5. The Firey River

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"MEDAL, n. A small metal disk given as a reward for virtues, attainments or services more or less authentic. It is related of Bismark, who had been awarded a medal for gallantly rescuing a drowning person, that, being asked the meaning of the medal, he replied: "I save lives sometimes." And sometimes he didn't." _- Ambrose Bierce

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 5: The Fiery River**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 28, 2010, 3:50 p.m.)_

After returning her Pokemon to her Pokeballs, Miri spent the next five minutes pacing the room, trying to find a proper icebreaker so she could begin a conversation with Nathen. Just because she was a journalist, it did not always mean that she knew what to say. More often than not, she had to choose her words carefully, lest she unintentionally offend her interviewee. Unfortunately, that may have been the case when she interviewed the Doctor, or had at least tried to. Perhaps she was too overzealous in her quest to obtain answers from him, possibly the cause of his quick exit from Research Chamber 2 almost an hour earlier. Miri was determined not to make the same mistake again here.

Now all she had to do was think of something to say. It was much easier when she knew something of the interviewee's past history and could work questions around it, such as the Doctor's known past encounter or encounters with Zekrom. Miri knew almost nothing about Nathen, save the composition of his Pokemon team, the fact that he is a Trainer, and that he had just received a Tepig, the reason he came to Nuvema Town.

Still figuring out a handy conversation starter, Miri was spared the effort when Nathen, who still had his Pokemon out and was communicating with them, decided to speak. "Are you okay, Miri, was it? You seem like you have a lot on your mind." A faint blush creeped across Miri's face from the ease at which Nathen managed to read her behavior. Then again, it probably was quite obvious to begin with. Somewaht flustered, Miri found herself rather tongue-tied, considering the fact that she was so preoccupied with trying to find something to say to Nathen. Nathen chuckled. "Delcatty got your tongue?"

Realizing that she should probably say something, Miri shook her head slightly, ridding herself of her trance-like state and suddenly having a good conversation starter come to mind. "No, i-it's just s-so weird, what's been going on here lately. It's like things are suddenly going wrong with Unova. You heard about any of it?"

Nathen shrugged. "Just bits and pieces. I haven't been in Unova for quite a long while, so I wasn't as attentive to current events before I returned earlier today. But I did hear once or twice that Zekrom has been appearing all over Unova recently, since earlier this year, and it has been attacking various towns and cities. Is that true?"

Miri nodded. "Yeah, but no one was ever injured or killed in those attacks, fortunately. But you know what else? In some of the towns and cities, following Zekrom's attacks, several Trainers and their Pokemon have suddenly gone missing without a trace. No one knows if Zekrom has anything to do with it or not. The police are at a lost for any leads to those dissappearances. I haven't mentioned it to the others, since I got excited by news of Zekrom attacking the laboratory earlier today, which was the cause of the burns on the building if you were curious. It's just that everyone believed Zekrom to be sealed in the Dark Stone. Now, people aren't so sure anymore. You know your legends don't you?"

It was Nathen's turn to nod. "I've learned and remembered it since I was a child in daycare. Well, to be fair, all the kids did. Centuries ago, Zekrom was one of two dragons that fought each other and brought Unova to a state of near-complete disaster, and it originally belonged to the younger of two brothers, royal princes whose names were lost to time, who governed Unova together. They disagreed with how to rule Unova, Zekrom's master was the futuristic and ambitious one who believed in ideals, wasn't he? Wanted to rapidly develop Unova and make the land a force to be reckoned with, a kingdom its neighbors will fear and respect. His brother disagreed, I think. Now he was the wise traditionalist who believed in truth, and wanted Unova to be this truly indiscreet and quiet land to coexist with the other regions. The older brother also had a dragon, right? Its name was Reshi-"

Both teens jumped back as a large, twisted structure of steel, charred black with electrical burns, crashed through the window. Glass shards flew into the room. Nathen and Miri avoided the brunt of the impact due to Nathen's Pokemon diving in front of them, flinging them to the floor. Disoriented, Nathen and Miri struggled to stand up, wiping shards of glass from their clothes. Nathen's Pokemon now sported slight cuts due to them being exposed to most of the flying glass.

Nathen stood up and shook his head to remove the dizziness before turining to the groaning Miri. "Urgh... You okay?"

Miri was now on her knees, trying to prop herself up with her right arm. "Y-Yeah, I-I think so." Nathen extended his right hand, grabbing hold of the journalist's left wrist in a bid to pull her up, but Miri cringed and tried to pull her arm back.

Nathen's face registered confusion. "What's wrong, Miri?" Still on her knees, the girl's only response was to wrap her right hand around her left arm. Scarlet red blood seeped out between her fingers, with a long gash discernable along the length of her arm. Nathen's eyes widened. "SOMEONE HELP!"

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Library, December 28, 2010, 4 p.m.)_

Stepping past the broken glass that still littered the floor in the library, Rory set the egg case down on a side table before walking over to one of the bookshelves. It appeared that the Doctor knew how things worked in this world, but the possibility always existed that he might be seperated from the rest of the group, like he was now. Rory grabbed a book off the shelf and began to read about the variety of Pokemon that lived in Unova. It did seem to be most pertinent, especially since Professor Juniper mentioned the fact that Pokemon native to Unova were not found in the wild in other regions, and vice versa. The man flipped through the first few pages of a paper version of the Unova Dex, his eyes scanning the images of the region's traditional starter Pokemon, just as the Doctor had described them. He saw their evolved forms, marveling at how they looked more mature and powerful than their base stages. Professor Juniper had likened Pokemon evolution to the growth and maturation of a human after all. Before he could continue, Rory's eye caught the text of a distinct footnote at the end of Samurott's entry in the book.

_This fair region's starter Pokemon were selected to honor the three loyal servants of the land's most virtuous ruler, the White Prince of Unova. Today, many beginning Trainers remember and pay tribute to this great man, as they start their journeys by choosing the base form of one of his three powerful Pokemon, which willfully followed him into death as the castle he was in crumbled to the ground whilst he, with his dragon, was locked in combat against his younger brother, the Black Prince of Unova, and his dragon._

Rory looked up from the book, a contemplative expression on his visage, having found the answer to one question he had in mind. So that was how Unova had selected its starter Pokemon. The discovery of the footnote only served to pique his curiousity regarding other areas though. The question of the two princes' identities formed itself in his thoughts. From what he could discern, they apparently had quite a big impact on the region as it is today. Rory guessed that one of the dragons mentioned in the footnote was Zekrom. There was little else he knew of that could fill that niche. Miri had mentioned another dragon, Reshi-... The rest of its name was cut off before anyone could finish it, but there was little doubt in Rory's mind that this other creature was the dragon that opposed Zekrom. It appeared that each dragon was under the ownership of a prince, and both fought each other in the distant past.

But over what? The immediate answer to Rory was control over Unova. If his history classes had served him well, things rarely ever ran smoothly in a kingdom when at least two people shared joint control over the way it was governed. Before Rory could continue with his thoughts and the book before him, a male voice called for help several rooms away, a voice Rory recognized as Nathen's. Bringing to mind the possibility that Nathen or someone else may be injured, Rory decided that this was one instance where his job on Earth as a nurse would come in handy. Putting the book away, and picking up the egg case, Rory hurried out the library, taking extra care not to step on the glass shards or drop the precious egg in his arms.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 28, 2010, 4:15 p.m.)_

Feet pressed firmly to the ground and his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, the Doctor walked along the outskirts of Nuvema Town, continuing his quest to find the runaway Snivy and Tepig. So far, fifteen minutes of searching had yielded nothing in the way of any hints to make his search easier. Scratching his head, the Time Lord contemplated sitting down and taking a short break to regain his bearings. He brushed a few strands of dark hair from his eyes and took a deep breath.

Before he could even have a few seconds of relaxation, his Pokemon companion ran over to him, frantically waving his arms at the Doctor. "Osha! Osha!"

The Doctor turned to stare at Oshawott. "Found something, Oshawott?" The Sea Otter Pokemon hastily nodded repeatedly before pointing in the distance. The Doctor raised his head to take a look. It appeared that Oshawott was doing some exploring of his own, and had discovered footprints on the soil leading from a berry grove a few meters away. The Doctor smiled, proud that the young Pokemon was beginning to be more observant, something his companions still struggled with. However, he could not help but feel like slapping himself on the forehead for not noticing the footprints earlier."Good job, Oshawott."

The Pokemon beamed. "Osha!" The Doctor walked over to the tracks in the soil, and crouched down to one of them. He bent his head down and stuck his tongue out, giving the small indentation in the ground a slight lick, to Oshawott's confusion and slight disgust.

He lapped his tongue against the interior of his mouth for a few seconds before standing up. "Definitely skin cells from a Tepig... With a hint of leaves from Oran Berry plants? Yes, Oshawott, I know it's _disgusting_, but it's probably the only way we'll know if those tracks belong to your friend or not." Running his fingers through his hair, the Doctor turned to face the berry grove. "Hmmm... It is an Oran Berry grove. And Tepig must have gotten hungry too. A good number of the Oran Berries there are gone. And since I know they are now in season this time of year, that would certainly mean they've been eaten." The Doctor strode over to the berry grove and picked a handful of Oran Berries. Offering a few to Oshawott, he popped one into his mouth. "This is good. Why, I can't remember the last time I had one of these... Oh wait, I can. Nevermind. Let's go, Oshawott. I'm sure the tracks will lead us straight to our little friend."

Oshawott nodded. "Wott." With that, they began to follow the small footprints, hoping that Tepig hadn't somehow managed to get himself into more trouble in the meantime.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Streets, December 28, 2010, 4:30 p.m.)_

Her arms crossed, Amy strode along the streets of Nuvema Town, allowing her frustration to bubble at her current circumstances. Ever since they arrived in this strange new world, the Doctor had been behaving rather suspiciously at times, and enthusiastic at others. While he was keen on explaining to world of Pokemon to his companions, he had been less than frank with them when it came to his history with this world. There was no doubt to Amy that the Doctor had been here before, how else would anyone rationalize his seemingly absolute knowledge of this world's inner functions? Too bad he was so difficult to get a hold of sometimes. Still befuddled, Amy decided to take a seat on a nearby bench to mull over what she already knew, and relax her legs. She realized that she had been walking around town mainly in circles, but that was because for one, the settlement was rather small to begin with, and that she was none too keen on getting lost on her first day in the world of Pokemon, tracing the same path until she became familar with it. Amy let out a sigh, intertwined her fingers, and placed her palms behind her head, leaning her back against the bench.

"Arf..." Amy's eyes snapped open as she straightened her frame, searching for the source of the noise. Her left foot kicked backwards unexpectedly, and collided with something small that felt _furry_. "Arf!" A small creature darted out from under the bench, and Amy caught a brief glimpse of its shape. Its physique was quite like that of a puppy, largely tan colored with a sing black stripe on its back. The front of its face was formed by a mass of cream colored fur. Several bruises were discernable on its body, with a few cuts among them. Amy stood up from the bench and began to chase the creature, instinctively knowing that it needed help of some sort. The chase lasted for a few minutes before the creature collasped from exhaustion. From what Amy could tell, it was malnourished as well. Despite her reservations about picking up or tending to stray dogs on Earth, this creature struck a chord with her. Amy guessed that it was evidently a Pokemon. The Doctor's words about Pokemon repeated themselves in Amy's head.

_Pokemon are way more intelligent than any animals on Earth, I can assure you of that._

If watching Nathen's Tepig bond with him and his other Pokemon was any indication, Pokemon appeared to have a deep connection with humans and each other, and understood people well, certainly implying intelligence of the sort that the Doctor mentioned. What really got to Amy was that the Pokemon appeared to be injured and abused. If those creatures were as wonderful as the Doctor said they were, who would want to harm them? Now that she thought about it, the Pokemon did look rather cute.

She looked down at her feet to see the small Pokemon struggling to stand, and she took a step forward. Its face expressing fear, the Pokemon attempted to move backwards from the woman. "Don't worry, I want to help you." But despite that, the Pokemon continued to back away from Amy. She was having none of that. She dove forward and scooped the Pokemon up in her arms. Visibly uncomfortable, the creature attempted to thrash and struggle, but its movements were weak, and it soon went limp, exhaustion once again catching up. Amy sighed, hoping that the action didn't further traumatize the Pokemon, but realized that it had to be done it order for help to reach the creature. Whispering soothing words in the Pokemon's ear, Amy walked slowly back to Professor Juniper's laboratory, being careful not to cause the little creature any more pain or worsen its injuries.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 28, 2010, 4:30 p.m.)_

"Oh my goodness! Are you kids alright?" Professor Juniper had a highly worried and apologetic expression while Rory busied himself with applying iodine to the gash on Miri's arm using a borrowed first-aid kit.

Miri cringed at the stinging sensation caused by the brown liquid. Getting cut by flying glass certainly was not a walk in the park. "I think so... Urgh. It looks like I have some sort of bad rash now."

Rory shrugged. "Well, get used to it. Now hold still." Miri complied as the nurse pinched the wound closed to stem the bleeding, rolling cloth bandages around the arm, before taping them off.

His Pokemon already bandaged up by Rory, Nathen decided to help the other teenager get her mind off her injury. "So where was I? Ah yes, the two dragons fought each other, due to the two brothers' disagreement."

Rory decided to interject. "The royal princes of Unova?"

Nathen nodded. "Yeah, you weren't here for the first part but yes, one brother, the elder, was traditionalist, the other, the younger, futurist, and both thought their way of ruling Unova was correct. Thing is, they both were right if they made a compromise, that's how the royal council saw it, but neither brother wanted to yield, eventually leading them to fight each other. Both brothers had control over a very powerful dragon-type Pokemon which aided them in Unova's prosperity, and when they fought, the dragon was split into two Pokemon in its anguish, one of fire, which stayed with the older brother and one of lighting, which stayed with the younger brother."

Professor Juniper nodded. "That's right. And you know what happened next?"

Nathen moved to explain. "The two dragons fought each other on behalf of their masters. The castle collapsed, killing the brothers. But the dragons still persisted in fighting, each carrying on the feelings of the deceased princes. Unova was nearly brought to ruin. The two dragons were put to a deep sleep by the people, and sealed in two stone spheres, separated from each other for fear that they may awaken and fight again." Nathen shook his head, his voice began to trail off, tears began to shine on his eyes. "A dragon Pokemon that was so _devoted_, that so _loved _its masters, that it would rather rip itself in two, than side with either of them. How could they be so _stupid_ as to disregard its feelings? And still the two dragons fought for them. And look what it brought Unova! The dragons' only reward? To be sealed away by the people for eternity in aura filled spheres!" Nathen's tears hit the floor as Miri placed her right hand on his left shoulder in an attempt to calm the boy. "I know it happened so long ago, but I can't help but feel so _angry_..." Rory lowered his head in sympathy. Nathen may not have stepped foot in his home region for years, but he was still very much attached to the land. Now obviously was not the right time to ask for the other dragon's name.

Professor Juniper hung up a phone in the room. "I've asked for some contractors to tow away that thing." The professor gestured to the charred steel structure with a sigh, before continuing. "It turns out that Zekrom's lighting damaged the lightning rod so badly that it fell through the window. Looks like two strikes from a Legendary Pokemon was too much for it." She shook her head. "Thank you for your assistance Rory, and I'm so sorry for what happened, kids." Nathen and Miri nodded in understanding.

Before anyone could respond, several frantic knocks were heard from the door. Rory ran off to answer it, while the others wondered who it could be. Before long, he returned with Amy, the woman clutching the injured Pokemon in her arms, barely clinging to consciousness. The creature's head rose weakly.

"Arf..."

Amy looked frantic."I found him or her, I dunno, under a bench. It's in bad shape, and needs help."

Professor Juniper sprung to attention. "Take that Pokemon to the infirmary right away! I'll see what I can do."

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 28, 2010, 4:30 p.m.)_

At the edge of a river on the outskirts of Nuvema Town, a Tepig walked along the distance, stopping for a moment to stare at its reflection in the water. It timidly took a few steps forward, and dipped its right foreleg in the river for a second before jumping backwards. A series of stepping stones lay ahead, offering passage across the river. A group of bushes were located several meters away. The leaves rustled as an opening in them was created by two hands pulling them apart. The Doctor's face peeked out the opening, observing the scene in front. A meter to the right, below the opening created by the Doctor, a smaller opening appeared, this one created by a pair of small white arms. Oshawott peeked out so he could observe the same scene as his Time Lord companion.

The Doctor decided to weigh in, keeping his voice down so he did not alert Tepig of their presence. "Interesting. Tepig appears to be especially afraid of the river. Though I don't blame it..."

"Osha. Wott. Wott." Oshawott interrupted the Doctor.

"Oh, so Tepig is male then? Sorry... Anyways, I don't blame _him_, being a fire-type and all. Though it looks like he's trying to some extent to overcome his fear. I must say, that is quite brave of him." Oshawott nodded. Apart from the standard "torture" allocated to the starter Pokemon, Oshawott knew that Adam had tied Tepig to a small chair and repeatedly dunked the Fire Pig Pokemon in a bathtub full of water, sometimes for several seconds at a time. Though he was a water-type, Oshawott shuddered at the thought. "Oh hey, it appears that Tepig is stepping up to the plate again. Tenacious, isn't he?" Oshawott turned to see that the Doctor was right, as Tepig once again tried to dunk his foreleg in the water. This time, Tepig kept his foreleg in the river for two seconds before pulling it out. "Tepig's getting bolder now, it seems." Oshawott continued to nod at the Doctor's running commentary of Tepig's actions.

Feeling a tad bolder, Tepig once again attempted to touch the water, managing to do so for five seconds. A fourth attempt saw Tepig manage ten seconds with his foreleg in the water, as the Doctor's smile grew wider in observing the little Pokemon make a conscious effort. The Fire Pig Pokemon then decided to try and see if he could reach the first stepping stone, and leapt onto it. But no sooner did he do so that he began to slip on the damp surface. With a shriek, he suddenly found himself clutching the stone with his forelegs for dear life, while his rear half was underwater, at risk of being swept away by the incoming current.

The Doctor wasted no time in bounding out from the bushes. "TEPIG!" The Time Lord shed his tweed jacket and flung it to the grass, as he tried to reach Tepig as quickly as possible. Oshawott followed suit, and was soon next to the Doctor when he reached Tepig's location. The Doctor crouched down at the river's edge, and tried to stretch his body as far out to the Fire Pig Pokemon as possible. "Grab my hand! Come on, just trust me!"

"Te... Te..."

Oshawott chimed in with his own encouragement. "Wott!" Tepig hesitated briefly, before realizing that Oshawott's presence meant that the man in front of him could probably be trusted. Keeping as firm a grip on the stepping stone as possible with his right foreleg, Tepig's left foreleg let go of the stone, and attempted to reach the Doctor's outstretched hand. The Doctor gritted his teeth and tried to reach out a little farther. Before he got the chance however, a particularly strong current swept itself down the length of the river, easily sweeping Tepig off his support on the rock, no thanks to his weakened hold on it.

The Doctor gasped. "NO!" He pointed at the river. "Oshawott!" Immediately taking the hint, Oshawott leapt into the river, followed soon after by the Doctor. Oshawott stretched his arms above his head, and taking advantage of his small size, allowed the current to sweep him forward naturally toward the thrashing Tepig, while the Doctor had to resort to using his arms to paddle his way there.

The streamlined shape Oshawott had adopted soon allowed him to bridge the gap between himself and Tepig, and he wrapped his arms around the Fire Pig Pokemon's neck, trying to give them both some form of buoyancy. Realizing that he would move faster on the land, the Doctor swam to the river's edge and swiftly climbed out. He began running along the river's length, eventually catching up to and overtaking Tepig and Oshawott, still being swept by the current. Reaching out with his right arm, the Doctor waited as the two Pokemon passed by him, before grabbing Oshawott's tail and giving it a sharp yank, pulling both Pokemon out of the river. The Time Lord stumbled slightly, and his legs gave out from under him, causing his back to hit the riverbank, the two Pokemon landing on his chest and stomach.

The Doctor panted slightly, and proped the front of his frame up by his elbows. "Right, now then, you two okay?" Both Pokemon muttered their responses in the affirmative. "Ah well, good to meet you, Tepig." Showing his appreciation at being rescued, Tepig bounded forward and began licking the Doctor's face with his tail wagging back and forth, earning him a few laughs from the Time Lord. "Oh yes, I never did tell you who I was, did I, Oshawott? I'm known as the Doctor." Oshawott's left eye perked slightly at the knowledge of this unusual name, if it could be called that, but he simply shrugged it off. "Hmmm... I've got to get my jacket now, and we're on the other side of the river. Are you afraid of the river, Tepig?"

The Fire Pig Pokemon timidly nodded. "Pig..."

"Drowning as well?" Another nod from Tepig.

"Te. Te."

The Doctor's face displayed sympathy and understanding. "I see. That's understandable, since you're a fire-type Pokemon after all. We'll need to get across the river somehow... You know, I saw what you did before you tried to leap for the stepping stone, and I must say, that was awfully brave of you."

Tepig raised his head. "Pig. Te?"

The Doctor beamed. "Yeah, no kidding. You knew full well what the river could do to you, and you still tried to experience it, despite your natural weakness to water. That takes real guts."

Tepig looked slightly more confident, but still hesitant. "Te."

"Still afraid after you got swept away, huh? Well, it happens to the best of us. Here's a secret. The water wants to hold you up, that's its nature. If you give it a chance, you'll find that it has no problem lifting you. Your body is inclined to be buoyant, because the water exerts this upward 'force' on it, due to its own displacement by your mass. And if you would just let it, this is what enables you to float. Keep that in mind."

Tepig began to feel more bold due to the Doctor's explaination and nodded. "Te."

"Do you want to try again? Oshawott and I will be right behind you this time if you do. We're friends now, and what are friends for?"

Oshawott chimed in with his support of the Doctor's idea. "Osha."

Tepig took a deep breath to steel his nerves. "Pig." The Dotor got up off the groud, picking up Tepig in the process. Oshawott followed close behind.

The Doctor walked over to the edge of the river and set Tepig down, squatting to be next to the Fire Pig Pokemon. "The current seems to have died down for now. Right then, the first thing to do is to get a feel for the water, like what you did earlier. Are you ready?" Tepig simply nodded with a determined expression. The Doctor arranged Tepig in a sitting position, his hands on Tepig's hips, with the Pokemon's sitting on the riverbank. "Now I'm going to let your hindlegs touch the water. Don't worry, I won't let go of you until you think you're ready. Just relax, okay?"

"Pig. Pig. Te."

With a smile, the Doctor shifted Tepig's rear end forward until the tips of his hindlegs made contact with the water. "If you need to, close your eyes and imagine. Imagine a place or situation which you find to be safe, and hold that image in your mind."

"Tepig."

"That's right, now lift one hindleg behind you, bend at the knee, and let it drift down, like a slow-motion kick. Feel it? That's your hindleg floating, see? The water _wants_ to hold you up. Now try your other hindleg." Finding that the Doctor was right, Tepig quickly complied. "How does it feel?"

"Pig!"

The Doctor smiled. "Good, now let's try something different." Picking up Tepig, the Doctor placed him on the riverbank, and then held him so his front half was above the water. "Press your forelegs into the water. Move them out like you did with your hindlegs. Don't worry, I've got you. Now, Press and release, press and release. Feel that when you press down in the water, your forelegs spring back up. The harder you press, the more your forearms will want to float to the surface. You understand what I mean?"

Tepig looked up to smile at the Doctor. "Te. Te!"

"Yeah, see? The water wants your forelegs to float. Now then, let's try something new." Tepig nodded, encouraging the Doctor to continue. The Doctor picked up Tepig and placed him in a shallow enough spot in the river so that he could stand slightly with his head above water. "I'm going to let go of you now, Tepig. Don't worry, you can stand here safely, alright? Besides, remember that you'll float. And if you're not comfortable, you can easily slide out onto the riverbank." Tepig took a deep breath and gave the Doctor a slightly hesitant nod. Taking his cue, the Doctor removed his hands from Tepig's body. "Now do a light jump and see what happens."

Tepig did as he was told, only to discover that he was bouncing? "Pig?"

The Doctor chuckled. "The water offers more resistance than air, so naturally, you'll move slower in it. Therefore, your jump was slowed down, which is why you wound up bouncing. It's quite fun, isn't it? Try it a few more times until you're comfortable, then we'll move on to something else."

"Te." Tepig proceeded to do as he was told. "Te..."

The Doctor chuckled again. "Enjoying yourself, Tepig?"

"Te."

"Alright, now for something a bit more challenging. Jump, er, I mean bounce with your hindlegs, and then kick down on your forelegs like I told you to. So, forelegs down, hindlegs up. Notice anything, Tepig?" As Tepig enjoyed the bounce he was taught to do, he eagerly tried what the Doctor instructed him, quickly finding that pushing down with his forelegs moved his hindlegs up.

"Pig! Tepig!"

"You're really getting it now. Now, stand on your hindlegs, bend your forelegs, and make circles in the water with your forelegs towards you."

Tepig did as he was told, though his face registered confusion at the fact that this action seemed easier than the last few ones he was told to do. "Te?"

"I assure you, Tepig, there's a point to all of this. Now, keep making those circles, and bounce on your hindlegs while you're doing so. And each time you bounce, make those circles with your hindlegs as well. Make sure your hindlegs are just under your body too. Do it hard enough, and I think you'll notice yourself moving around in the water."

Tepig quickly found that to be the case. "Tepig!"

The Doctor's smile never left his face. "Feels great, dosen't it, Tepig? If you want to float better, press your chest into the water, arch your back and let your bottom rise to the surface. Notice anything?"

"Te."

"Yeah, that's right, your hindlegs will start to move behind your body. Just keep that up, and congratulations. You've mastered the dog paddle, the first swimming stroke known to humans. Well, most children learn it first when they start swimming as well. Just remember that you're still a fire-type Pokemon and are still weak to water-type moves."

Tepig paddled over to the Doctor with a smile. "Te." Having seen his friend learn that simple swimming stroke, Oshawott jumped into the river and began swimming on his own.

The Doctor watched both Pokemon like a proud parent for a few minutes, lying on his front, and resting on his elbows at the edge of the river. "Alright then, how about we go back to the other side of the river to grab my jacket and continue on?" Both Pokemon sported slightly mischiveous smirks on their faces. They swam over to the Doctor before unceremoniously splashing him in the face. The Time Lord got up and began spluttering. Turning around, he began wiping his eyes to try and remove any river water that got in. Once he was done, he turned back to face the Pokemon. "That was good. I literally did not see that one coming. You guys got me, alright. Now, how about we get my jacket so we can find Snivy?"

Tepig and Oshawott, thankful that the Doctor was not mad at them for their little stunt, quickly agreed.

"Te."

"Osha."

The Doctor leapt into the river and began to swim across, both Pokemon quickly following suit. Quickly reaching the other side of the river, the Doctor ran the length of its edge until he found his tweed jacket. "Ah, there it is. Hmmm... My clothes are still soaked, but I suppose they will dry while we're looking for Snivy." The Doctor kneeled down so he could face Tepig and Oshawott, but his gaze was focused on Tepig. A mental image formed itself in the Doctor's head, as the Time Lord allowed himself to space out to fully see it.

_Looking out in front of him, an Emboar huffed at an unseen enemy, who remained completely unfazed by the Pokemon. Scruching his right hand into a fist, the Emboar punched it three times into his open palm, formed by his left hand. He began stomping repeatedly on the ground, kicking up a dust cloud which surrounded him. When the cloud cleared, it revealed the Emboar, who was now cloaked in a red aura. With a loud roar, the Emboar prepared to charge at the foe, but was stopped when the open palm of a human-like right hand appeared in front of his face. Seated in front of the Emboar was a man who appeared to be his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair, his right arm stretched directly in the air so the Emboar could see the man's palm in front of his face. Unusually, his head was turned away from the Emboar, facing his right instead of looking at the Pokemon. His left arm was outstretched, with his left hand appearing to be clutching something. After the man held his hand in front of the Emboar's face for a few seconds, the Pokemon sighed and lowered his head, allowing the red aura surrounding him to disappear. The Emboar tilted his head up again to face the unknown foe, his hands forming tightly clutched fists at his sides._

"Te?"

"Osha?"

As the image disappeared from his mind, the Doctor caught sight of Tepig and Oshawott, giving him looks of confusion and concern. "Oh, right, sorry, I must have spaced out again. Picking up his jacket, the Doctor shoved his right hand into one of the pockets, retrieving two small plastic wrapped packages. "Who wants a Jammie Dodger?" Tepig gave the Doctor a look of confusion, while Oshawott eagerly held his arms up in the air for the cookie he was about to receive. "Don't worry Tepig, they're good." Ripping open one of the packages, the Doctor placed the cookie in Oshawott's waiting arms. The Sea Otter Pokemon's face brightened as he began greedily munching on the treat. Smiling, the Doctor opened the other package. "You did well when I taught you to dog paddle, now try one." The Time Lord held his hand out to Tepig, the cookie lying on his palm. Tepig strode forward and gave the cookie a few sniffs before sticking his tounge out and licked it once or twice. He then ate it out of the Doctor's hand. The Doctor smiled as the Fire Pig Pokemon brightened at the taste.

"Te!"

"I told you they were good, now didn't I? Hmmm... My clothes are still soaked, so I can't put on my jacket without it getting really wet, and that would ruin the Jammie Dodgers. Oh well." The Doctor draped the jacket over his left arm, taking care to ensure none of the contents in its pockets fell out. "Okay, now let's go find Snivy." Tepig and Oshawott both nodded in agreement as the Doctor began walking off, both of them following him in tow.

* * *

Author's notes: Phew. That was a long chapter to write. Yep, the way the Doctor taught Tepig is actually how people learn to dog paddle. Just substitute "forelegs" for "arms" and "hindlegs" for "legs". Hmmm... This chapter actually did not require a glossary. Well, I guess the need for one would decrease in later chapters, as more and more things are explained by it and all.

Anyways, OCs are still being accepted for this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**


	6. The Grassy Lightning

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Some (demons) are also in the thick black clouds, which cause hail, lightning and thunder, and poison the air, the pastures and grounds"_ - Martin Luther

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 6: The Grassy Lightning**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Infirmary, December 28, 2010, 5 p.m.)_

"So will it be okay?"

Professor Juniper looked up from the screen she was observing in order to evaluate the health of the Pokemon Amy found. The Pokemon himself was currently lying in a cot, with wires strapped to it, connected to a machine, evidently responsible for stabilizing its condition. "It's a _he_, Amy. And don't worry, I expect him to make a full recovery. Thank goodness my assistants were able to get the backup generator running after Zekrom knocked out all the power. But no worries, the contractors should be here to take a look at the building tomorrow. I feel a bit bad for contacting them during the holiday season and all, but hey, these things can happen at any time, you know."

Amy raised an eyebrow. Apparently, the people of this world also celebrated some sort of holiday at this time of year, just like on Earth. It almost prompted her to ask the reason for this similarity, but there were more pressing matters at the moment. "That's a relief. Who could do this to a creature like that?"

Professor Juniper sighed. "That's a question I have to ask myself everyday, Amy. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that Pokemon are abused by people on an almost daily basis. Maybe a Trainer is frustrated with a Pokemon, or someone finds one to be an annoyance. I don't know. The important thing is that you were there and found this one in time. Spencer, administer another dose of painkillers." Teeth gritted, Adam moved to follow the request, injecting a clear liquid into the little Pokemon's foreleg, visibly annoyed that he was being made to help a Pokemon, but no one paid any heed to his facial expression. He would sooner throttle the miserable wreck with a garrote if and when he had the chance. Rory watched the scene with a big degree of intrest, given his nursing career.

Nathen put his hand on Amy's shoulder. "I feel the same way too, but we can't change the past. The important thing is to ensure that this Pokemon finds a good home."

Amy nodded in understanding. "Speaking of which, what do you call this Pokemon anyway?"

Professor Juniper tore her eyes away from watching Adam treat the Pokemon to face Amy. "That's a Lillipup. They're quite a common sight in this area of Unova, making them popular choices for one of the first few Pokemon beginning Trainers capture. Rather cute, aren't they?"

"Yeah..." Miri busied herself with observing the whole thing. An article on a rescued Lillipup may not be as big a scoop as one on an attack by Zekrom, but it was substantial, considering the importance the people in Unova placed on the bonds between themselves and Pokemon.

Professor Juniper looked at the clock on the far wall of the room. "Hmmm... Looks like I'll have to be off for a bit. I've arranged to give an interview by phone to the local news, and it would be best not to put things off. Keep an eye on Spencer while I'm gone, okay?" Although the professor meant that last sentence as a joke, Adam's expression darkened considerably, fed up with her soft jabs towards his behavior. As far as he was concerned, she did not suspect anything off about him, but such commments were taxing on his pride and sense of competence. Professor Juniper exited the room as everyone else continued to observe the condition of the injured Lillipup. Miri, seeing her chance, decided to follow.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 28, 2010, 5:30 p.m.)_

Through the forested landscape of Unova's first numbered route, a small green Pokemon with a cream-colored underside skillfully swung herself through the trees. Running down her back and tail was a yellow stripe, with additional ones around her eyes. Protruding out her shoulders were two yellow structures which curved backwards. She also possessed a green leaf-shaped tail, short green arms, and stubby cream-colored legs. The Snivy propelled herself gracefully from tree to tree as she grabbed nearby tree branches using the vines which extended from her shoulders as leverage.

Looking up at the clouds, Snivy sighted the sky beginning to darken, which hearalded an oncoming storm. The Grass Snake Pokemon narrowed her eyes in frustration and she landed on the highest branch of a tree, making the wise decision to seek shelter before the weather got any worse, before she heard that noise again. Suddenly, sleeping through the storm, shut off from its stimuli, seemed like a good idea. Leaping from the tree, Snivy landed on the soft grass without so much as a noise.

But before Snivy could continue her quest for a suitable hiding spot from the incrementally bad weather, a low growl distracted her from doing so. She suddenly found herself surrounded by seven glaring, bipedal lizard-like creatures with a single red scale atop their heads. Their eyes, located on the yellow top half of their heads, were set to its sides. The lower portion of their heads and torsos were cream-colored, with a red scaled belly. Their arms were almost constantly holding up yellow molted skin around their legs, which resembled pants. Known to be extremely territorial, the Scraggy were ostensibly irritated by Snivy's presence as they prepared to knock the Grass Snake Pokemon senseless.

One of the Scraggy charged in with a Headbutt, which was gracefully dodged by Snivy, as she pushed her vines against the ground to propel herself into the air. She whirled around and smacked the Scraggy with a Vine Whip, knocking it to the side, and sending it crashing into one of its comrades. Now even more agitated, the rest of the swarm tightened their fists at the Snivy that dared to make a mockery of them. Snivy sighed in apparent boredom, wishing only to find shelter quickly before the storm set in.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 28, 2010, 5:30 p.m.)_

"You sure this is where Snivy went, Tepig? It looks to be rather out of town, if you ask me." The Doctor scratched his head as Tepig sniffed the ground, following Snivy's scent. Granted, Tepig's evolutionary line were known for their sense of smell, but the distance the Fire Pig Pokemon was taking the Doctor and Oshawott from Nuvema Town made the Time Lord a tad unsure.

"Te."

"Alright, if you say so, I guess we should just keep moving then. It has been what, two-and-a-half hours since you three ran off, so I guess that's plenty of time for Snivy to run out of town if she wanted, it's a she right?" Oshawott nodded to confirm the Doctor's question while Tepig continued to sniff out Snivy's trail. "Well, this route looks to be moderately forested, we'd better hurry if we are to find her. Snivy are naturals at navigating quickly through trees." The Doctor looked up at the sky. "And it looks like a storm's coming in, I don't know about you two, but I'd rather not get any wetter than I am now." The Doctor's comments were met by agreement from Tepig and Oshawott as they continued deeper into the forest.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 28, 2010, 5:30 p.m.)_

Having taken down detailed notes about Amy's discovery of Lillipup, Miri sat on a chair in the presentation room with a pencil and notepad, as Professor Juniper busied herslf with that phone call to the press. Through listening in on the professor's side of the conversations, Miri was able to record her perspective on the previous day's Zekrom attack, as well as the one which happened earlier today. Professor Juniper had agreed to let Miri listen in, so long as she was not being disruptive. If anything, letting the journalist hear her phone call would probably save her an interview, or at least shorten the length of time she would spend in one, should Miri not be able to acquire the information she wanted or needed through her exchange over the phone.

Miri's intrest in the Doctor only grew as she learned more about his bold leap in the presence of Zekrom's cloud. She had to feel some respect for the Time Lord's act, which was to his credit, bold though suicidal. She still wondered why Zekrom was prompted to leave the Doctor alone after a few Bolt Strikes, as she would think that a creature as powerful as it and as mad at the Doctor as it appeared to be, would not let up its attacks until the Doctor was a smouldering pile of ash. It appeared that she would still require the Doctor's input to get the whole story, and that was only provided he would be willing to talk. She bit down on the middle of her pencil, deciding that she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 28, 2010, 5:45 p.m.)_

Snivy let out a short pant as she began to get exhausted by the attacks from the Scraggy. She had already knocked out three of them, but the remaining four did not look like they would be letting up their attacks anytime soon. While Snivy was beginning to tire, her adrenaline was still at a high enough level, and she could keep fighting for a while longer. She had to thank the periodic training sessions she had sparring with Tepig and Oshawott for increasing her stamina. Speaking of which, Snivy wondered where her two other friends had gone off to. It had been quite a while since they were separated in the wake of Zekrom's attack on the laboratory.

Repelling a Low Kick from a Scraggy by leaping over it, Snivy was caught off guard as another one kicked sand in her face in the form of a Sand Attack. As she tried to rub the irritants out of her eyes, one of her opponents whacked her up the chin with a Faint Attack, causing her to slam her back into the rough bark of a tree. Winching from the impact, Snivy quickly scrambled to her feet in time to narrowly dodge a Headbutt from a Scraggy who failed to feel anything from that collision with tree due to its thick cranium. Deciding to reevaluate their strategy, the four Scraggy glared at Snivy, unleashing their Leer move. Intimidated, with her Defense down, but still keeping her calm expression, Snivy backed away, only to find her back rubbing against another tree.

Seeing as she had no place to run, Snivy lashed out with her Vine Whip at a Scraggy, forcing it to defend itself and distracting the others long enough for her to jump up and turn upside down. She swished her tail, creating a tornado with a green tinted aura, filled with glowing leaves. With a wag of her tail towards her opponents, she caught another Scraggy in her Leaf Tornado. Smirking, Snivy deftly flung her tail downwards, sending the tornado the ground, instantly knocking out the Scraggy caught inside. Its hand glowing white, a Scraggy prepared a Brick Break attack and charged towards Snivy, who got ready to defend herself.

Before she could, however, the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance. Stricken with fear at the noise, Snivy crouched to the ground with her head in her arms, allowing the Scraggy to get a clean hit in. Snivy cursed herself for forgetting about the oncoming storm. She looked up in the sky to see a flash of lightning before the thunder rumbled again. She gasped, unable to do anything after viewing the lightning and hearing the thunder. The Scraggy whacked Snivy in the gut with another Brick Break, flinging her a few meters away. Seeing Snivy sprawled across the ground, the three Scraggy moved in to finish her off.

Before they could however, a loud and authoritative voice shouted out, distracting them from their goal. "Tepig, Ember! Oshawott, Water Gun!" The Scraggy turned around in time to meet a spiral of small fire bolts and a forceful shot of water collide with two of them, sending them flying off into the distance, several feet away. The remaining Scraggy realizing that it was outnumbered, beat a hasty retreat. The Doctor stepped forward, breathing a sigh of relief. "Those Scraggy, persistant little ones, aren't they?" He walked forward towards Snivy, who was struggling to get up. Tepig and Oshawott rushed over to her side. "You okay, Snivy?" Snivy looked up and met the Doctor's gaze. Tepig and Oshawott gave her reassuring looks, encouraging her to trust the man.

Snivy nodded. "Sni."

"Well, that's good, we were beginning to get worried about you. You sure managed to get quite a distance from Nuvema Town. And those Scraggy... I'd say you were doing quite well in repelling them." Snivy looked down in slight embaressment, before jumping back with a shriek as the sound of thunder was heard once again. The Doctor turned to Tepig and Oshawott. "What's up with her?"

"Te."

"Osha."

"She's scared of lightning and thunder?" Both Pokemon nodded, having knowledge of the fact that Adam had attached miniature lightning rods to Snivy, and using his Pokemon, had bullied other Trainers' electric-type Pokemon at the laboratory into attacking Snivy with their shocking attacks. Her screams filled Tepig and Oshawott's ears and sometimes stayed there like a bad plague that refused to be eradicated. The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. "Hmmm... I'll see what I can do then." He cautiously stepped forward, being careful not to further spook the cowering Grass Snake Pokemon. "Snivy. Come on, look at me."

"Sni..." Tepig and Oshawott shouted encouragement.

"Te!"

"Osha!" Prompted by her friends, Snivy forced herself to stare at the Doctor.

The Time Lord smiled. "Hello there." The Doctor put down his jacket, and began fumbling through a pocket, finding what he was looking for, a miniature pair of pink earmuffs. "Dunno why I have these here, but oh well..." He put the earmuffs on Snivy's head. "That should block out most of the thunder's noise, but not my voice." The Doctor sat down on the ground. Crossing his legs, he scooped up Snivy and laid her in his lap. "Now I'm going to help you here, see? So don't worry about a thing." Snivy slowly nodded, soothed by the reassuring tone of the Doctor's voice. Now then, close your eyes and keep them closed, that should prevent you from seeing the lightning, okay?" Snivy quickly obeyed the Doctor's words. "Right then, I want you to rid your mind of any feelings of fear, stress, or anxiety. However, you may find that they keep intruding. Don't try to force the them out. Rather, observe them impartially, or fairly, and then let them slip away once you are done looking them over."

"Sni."

"Comfy? Good. Notice any tension in your body, and starting at your feet, image it all fading away. Do this one part at a time. Visualize each part of your body becoming lighter and lighter as the tension is removed, and then relax it. If you need help, imagine something you find comforting or soothing. Maybe water if you want. Visualize it rushing over each part of your body as it is cleansed of tension. Do this until your whole body is relaxed, ending at your face and head."

"Sni."

"Ah, you're feeling it now. Take slow, deep breaths. When you exhale, see the tension and negativity leaving in a dark cloud, and as you inhale, see the air returning as a bright force filled with life and energy."

"Sni. Sni. Sni."

"Now you're very relaxed. Appreciate that if you will. And now, imagine that you are at the top of a flight of ten stairs which at the fifth step, begins submerging into a swimming pool. Picture every detail of this scene from the top to the bottom. Tell yourself that you are going to descend the stairs, counting each step down, starting at ten and going backwards. Picture each number in your mind. Imagine that each number you count is further down and one step closer to the bottom. After each number, you will feel yourself drifting further and further into deep relaxation. As you take each step, imagine the feel of the step under your feet. And once when you reach the fifth step, imagine and feel how refreshingly cool the water is, and tell yourself that you are stepping into an oasis, one of purity and cleanliness. As you descend the last five steps, feel the water getting higher and higher up your body. You should now feel somewhat numb and your heart may race a bit, but take note of it, and let any qualms or issues about the situation just slowly drift away into the water. Keep a strong will, and make sure to grasp what is happening around you." The sound of thunder, considerably dampened, reached Snivy's ears, but she remained calm, forcing herself to focus on the Doctor's voice. "That's it, you're doing it now. You didn't even flinch when the thunder came, though maybe the earmuffs had something to do with it. Anyway, you're at the bottom of the water, and shouldn't feel anything but a floating sensation, maybe a slight idea that you're spinning. Feel it?"

Her eyes still closed, Snivy gave a slight nod. "Sni."

"That's good. Now, address your problems and decide what you want from there. Narrate what you are doing, speak in the present and future tense quietly to yourself. Picture three boxes under the water that you have to swim to get to. Once you have found them, open them slowly one at a time and narrate to yourself what is happening when you open the box. As you open each box, say something that reflects what you desire, but keep it positive, and actually believe it. Repeat those statements as many times as you need. At the first box, 'I am calm in the face of the storm', for instance. I'll help you if you want." Thunder rumbled, but neither Snivy nor the Doctor paid any heed to it. The first raindrops from the storm hit the Doctor's head, but he ignored them.

"Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Sni."

The Doctor kept watching the Grass Snake Pokemon. "Excellent. Now for the second box, 'Lightning can't touch me. I am not afraid.'"

"Vy. Vy. Sni. Vy. Sni. Sni."

"Keep it up. Third box, 'The sound of thunder is music to my ears, impressing me with its tremendous force.'"

"Vy. Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni. Vy. Snivy."

"You ready, now?"

Snivy nodded. "Sni."

"Good. Swim back to the stairs, and feel with each step you take, the water becoming lower and lower until you have once again reached the fifth step. Once you are out of the water, and are on the sixth step, you may feel heavy or as if there is a weight on your chest. If so, wait on the step until this passes, and repeat those statements if you feel the need. Once it passes, continue up the stairs while visualizing each step by its number, counting forward this time. As you are feeling those steps underneath you, will yourself to carry on up the stairs. Reached the top yet?"

The Doctor's question was met with a nod from Snivy. "Sni."

"Just give yourself a few moments before you open your eyes. If you want, visualize yourself opening a door to the outside world. If so, do it slowly, and imagine the light pouring in through the doorway to make your eyes open. Put your mind back in the conscious state by telling yourself to 'wake up'. Take your time." Snivy's eyes slowly fluttered open as she found herself completely at ease with the world around her. A raindrop splashed on her nose as she realized that it had begun to rain. She met the Doctor's face with a smile. "Hello, Snivy."

"Vy."

"How do you feel?" Snivy took the earmuffs off her head and climbed out of the Doctor's lap. Taking a few steps forward, she looked up at the sky as she allowed the rain to shower her body. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, but neither that nor the sound of the thunder that followed made her cringe. She felt surprisingly at ease, as if she had just walked onto the soft sand of a tranquil beach.

"Sni." The Doctor smiled, while Tepig and Oshawott walked up to him, curious as to what he did.

"Te?"

"Osha?"

The Doctor let out a slight chuckle. "That's what you call hypnotherapy **(1)**. Takes quite an effort to cure a fear of lightning and thunder, so that's one way to do it. You just have to put yourself in a comfortable state of mind, that's all. In that sense, Snivy did most of the work herself. It's mainly positive thinking on her part, made easier by how calm and relaxing the situation she imagined herself in, was. A good number of athletes do this sort of thing frequently, telling themselves they will perform well, and then actually beliving it. Many of them actually perform beter because of this. It's called positive self talk." The Doctor got a good look at Snivy, and for the third time today, a mental image appeared in his head.

_Giving an unseen foe in front of her a stern look, a Serperior snarled, which had no evident effect on the enemy's emotional state. The Pokemon leapt into the air, propelling herself upside-down. With a wide swish of her tail, she conjured up strong winds which surrounded her body. The winds swirled themselves in the shape of a tornado, glowing with a green aura within it. Tinted with the same aura, glowing leaves filled the tornado, spiraling around inside the winds. Before she could launch her attack at the foe, the Serperior's eyes caught the gaze of a seated man, one who appeared to be his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair. His head was turned to the right to face the Serperior. The man's right arm was stretched straight up directly in the air, his open palm showing. His left arm was outstretched, with his left hand appearing to be clutching something. The man closed his eyes and shook his head at the Serperior, prompting her to dispel the winds and the leaves she had created. The Serperior let out a low hiss, flipped her body right-side-up again, and straightened her frame, her eyes narrowed at the mysterious enemy ahead of her._

"Sni?"

"Te?"

"Osha?"

Noting the concerned ad curious glaces of the Pokemon, the Doctor shook the mental image out of his mind as he reached into a jacket pocket, retrieving three small plastic wrapped packages. "Don't worry about me, just spaced out a third time, I guess. Might I offer any one of you a Jammie Dodger?" Smiling, Tepig and Oshawott walked forward to take the cookies as the Doctor unwrapped them, munching quickly on them as they indulged in the taste of shortbread and plum jam. The Doctor held out his hand witht he third cookie on it. "Want one, Snivy? Trust me, they're good." Snivy took the cookie from the Doctor's hand and examined it in her eyes. She took a slow bite out of it, chewing it around in her mouth before her eyes widened. The rest of the cookie quickly disappered in a few short bites.

"Sni!"

The Doctor was prompted to chuckle. "Told you they were good. Tepig and Oshawott also found that out, didn't they?"

"Te!"

"Osha!"

Retrieving the earmuffs and stuffing them back into his jacket pocket, the Doctor stood up, walking backwards so he could face the three Pokemon. "Well, looks like we should find some shelter quickly now." He spun around so he could look forward, and collided head-first into a tree. The Time Lord fell backwards, landing on his back, unconscious.

Oshawott rushed over and began to poke the Doctor on the right shoulder, while Tepig nudged the Time Lord's left shoulder with his snout. Snivy, deducing what had happened, quickly gave instructions to the other two Pokemon. "Sni. Vy. Vy. Sni." _"There's a cave up ahead. We have to get him in there. Drape his jacket over his chest." _Tepig and Oshawott quickly complied. Unfortunately, they failed to notice a single white, silvery feather blow out of the Doctor's jacket, which caught itself in some tall grass. The three Pokemon busied themselves with dragging the Time Lord into the cave by his shoulders.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Infirmary, December 28, 2010, 6:15 p.m.)_

"The Doctor sure is taking his time." muttered Amy as she stared st the clock.

Her husband shrugged, casting occasional glaces at his egg case. Adam had left to attend to other matters, while Nathen was tending to his Pokemon elsewhere in the building. "Well, give him some credit. Those Pokemon could be anywhere. He's got quite a big area to search. They may have even left town for all we know."

"Maybe, but a storm's setting in."

"You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Amy sighed."Why shouldn't I be? He runs off all the time!"

"That's just him. I'm surprised you're not used to it yet."

"Believe me, I am. I just wish he'd take life a little bit slower."

"The Doctor won't be the Doctor if he did."

Amy shrugged. "Point taken. How's the Lillipup?"

"Professor Juniper said that he would be out for a day or so, but he should be fine. Don't worry. What, you want to adopt him? He is kinda cute and adorable."

Amy blushed before turning away to prevent Rory from seeing it. "Maybe..."

"I think it's a good idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean, I chose to take this egg, didn't I? And I can't wait to see what it hatches into." Amy smiled, and pulled Rory in for a kiss on the lips.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, Cave, December 28, 2010, 6:15 p.m.)_

"Urgh..." The Doctor blinked his eyes rapidly as he tried to shake away the dizziness plaguing his vision. "Where am I?" Seeing that he was awake, Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott rushed over. "You guys brought me in here for shelter from the storm?"

"Sni."

"Te."

"Osha."

"Thanks a lot, now then, where's my jacket?" Snivy gestured to a rock face, where the article of clothing in question was hanging. The Doctor grabbed it and began running his fingers through his pockets, going over a mental list of things he knew were inside. But his face displayed a mix of frustration and distress when he realized something was missing. "No... It can't be gone. It was there when I put the earmuffs back. How could it have just vanished?" Noticing the questioning glances from the three Pokemon, the Doctor shook his head. "No, I don't blame any of you. It's just that something very dear to me is gone. Sigh, I should have left it in my closet... It was a gift from a dear old friend..." Tears began to shine in the Time Lord's eyes.

"Wott?"

"It was a white feather, with a very unique silvery sheen. You won't find one like it anywhere at all. And now I've lost it..." Several tears ran down the Time Lords cheeks as he let out a deep, drawn out sigh, and sat down on a rock, wiping his eyes on his left sleeve. The Pokemon began communicating amongst themselves.

"Te. Pig. Pig. Tepig. Te. Te." _"It must have fallen out when we put the jacket on him. How could we be so careless?"_

"Sni. Vy. Snivy. Sni. Sni. Snivy. Vy. Vy."_ "That doesn't matter now. He helped us with our fears. Now we should find that feather. Retrace our steps."_

"Wott. Wott. Osha. Wott. Osha." _"It's obviously very important to him. Let's go then."_

"Vy. Snivy. Vy. Sni. Sni. Sni. Vy." _"Let's go quickly while he's distracted. He'll probably try and stop us if he knew we were going. The storm's still there, but that can't be helped." _With a shared nod, the three Pokemon quickly ran out of the cave.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Lab, Dining Room, December 28, 2010, 6:25 p.m.)_

"Thanks for having us for dinner, Professor Juniper."

The professor smiled. Setting a meatloaf on the table as everyone was seated around a large rectangular table. "It's no problem at all, Nathen." The professor turned to Rory and Amy. "Are you sure we should start without the Doctor? He's been gone for quite a while, and I'd hate to do so."

"Don't worry about the Doctor. He'll be fine, he does this sort of thing fairly often. He even told us not to wait for him, and would hate to be the reason for any hold-up. I'll bet he'll get his own dinner if he hasn't already." replied Rory.

The professor shrugged. "If you say so then. Dig in."

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 28, 2010, 6:25 p.m.)_

In search of the Doctor's missing feather, Snivy swung along the treetops as Tepig and Oshawott ran their seperate paths through the forest. Oshawott, tasked with going to the spot where the Doctor accidently knocked himself out, soon stumbled upon what he was looking for, noticing the feather clinging to a tall strand of grass. As he strode forward to retrieve it, a sudden gust of wind from the stor,m came and blew it deeper into the forest. Gritting his teeth in slight frustration, Oshawott feverishly pursued the feather. He did not need to run for long however, as he soon noticed the feather, clutched in the hands of a Scraggy. Oshawott recognized it as the one who fled from the confrontation with Snivy when him and Tepig showed up. The Sea Otter Pokemon shot a Water Gun straight up into the air before walking towards the Scaraggy, soon noticing that it was male.

"Scra. Ggy. Ggy. Ggy." _"How pretty. This will look good in my den." _Oshawott tapped the Scraggy on the shoulder, causing the molting Pokemon to turn around to face him.

"Wott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Wott." _"Hey, sorry for the intrusion, but would you mind handing me that feather? It belongs to a friend of mine."_

"Scra. Scra. Scra. Ggy." _"Oh? You're the Oshawott that interfered. And why should I just hand you this feather? It's obviously one-of-a-kind."_ Oshawott  
sighed.

"Oshawott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Osha." _"Look, that feather means a lot to my friend. A lot to me too."_ The Scraggy let out a low chuckle.

"Ggy. Ggy. Scra. Scra." _"That feather aien't his no more."_

"Wott. Wott. Wott. Oshawott." _"Look man, I'm asking you, with respect. Please give me back the feather."_

"Scraggy. Scra. Scra. Ggy." _"I aien't letting go, man!"_ Oshawott lunged forward and grabbed the end of the feather, which surprisingly, did not tear or fray. He gave the Scraggy a stern and determined expression. The Molting Pokemon gave out a low chuckle, releasing his hold on the feather and pushing it towards Oshawott. "Ggy. Scra. Ggy. Ggy."_ "Heh. You win, dog."_ Oshawott turned his back on the Scraggy and began walking away, feather in hand. However, the Scraggy's hand glowed white, as he charged forward at Oshawoot, nailing the Sea Otter Pokemon in the back with a well-placed Brick Break, sending him to the ground. "Scraggy. Scra. Scra. Ggy." _"And here's your prize!"_

Attempting to scramble to his feet, Oshawott was knocked a short distance away with a Faint Attack. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found that the feather was still in his hand. He turned his head to see the Scraggy charged at him, hand glowing white in preparation for another Brick Break. But before that attack could make contact, a green aura-tinted, leaf-filled tornado swept the Molting Pokemon up in its grasp. Snivy hurled herself from a nearby tree, landing gracefully on the ground as the Scraggy was flung into another tree by her Leaf Tornado attack. The Molting Pokemon quickly recovered from the strike.

"Scraggy. Ggy. Ggy. Scra. Scraggy?" _"Well, if it isn't the thunder-fearing Snivy. Come back for more, poppet?"_

Snivy's eyes narrowed dangerously as she lashed out with a Vine Whip, which the Scraggy knocked aside. "Vy! Sni. Sni. Sni. Vy!" _"Don't get fresh with me!"_ The sound of thunder was heard again, but Snivy didn't flinch a muscle.

The Scraggy chuckled. "Ggy. Ggy. Scra. Ggy. Ggy." _"Got over your petty fear? Well, too bad, because that won't help you one bit!"_

Snivy's expression was smug. "Sni." _"Try me."_ The Scraggy charged in with a Headbutt, but this was dodged by Snivy quickly leaping out of the way. Before the Molting Pokemon could react, he was struck by an Ember attack, knocking him backwards a few meters.

Tepig ran out of the trees into the area. "Tepig! Te!" _"Don't leave me out!"_ Snivy and Tepig advanced on the Scraggy, as the Molting Pokemon tried to beat a hasty retreat. Before he could do so, a sword-shaped pillar of water struck him, fully knocking him out.

Oshawott breathed a sigh of relief as the pillar of water attached to his scalchop dispersed, finishing his Razor Shell attack. He replaced the scalchop on his chest as he went to meet Snivy and Tepig. "Wott. Wott. Osha?" _"You guys saw my signal?" _

Snivy let out a slight huff. "Vy. Vy. Sni. Snivy Sni." _"Of course we did, don't ask stupid questions."_

Tepig decided to step in before a fight erupted. "Pig. Te. Te. Tepig." _"Come on, let's go and return the feather to the Doctor already."_ Tepig's comment was met with agreement by both Snivy and Oshawott, as they all rushed to return to the cave.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, Cave, December 28, 2010, 6:45 p.m.)_

"Osha?"

The Doctor was broken out of his reverie as he heard the sound of Oshawott's voice. Come to think about it, the three Pokemon had been awfully silent for the last twenty minutes. He turned around. "What is it, Oshawo-... Oh, you guys found it! Thank you!" The Doctor took the feather from Oshawott's waiting hand, and examined it. "And not a single sign of damage in sight. You guys did so well too." The three Pokemon suddenly looked rather bashful. "Come on, you all deserve every ounce of praise I have to offer." The Doctor pulled all of them in for a hug, before setting them down. "Let me just say that you all were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic **(2)**. Should put this feather somewhere so I won't lose it again." He took out a small red jewelry box from a jacket pocket and inserted the feather inside, before unbuttoning a different pocket on his jacket. He placed the box inside the pocket and buttoned it up again. The Doctor then seemed to sink into a few seconds of brief thought. "Right, I need a gift to thank Professor Juniper for her hospitality and generosity. Hmmm..." The Doctor clicked his fingers. "I know. It's been a long while since I've done this, but..."

Sitting down, the Time Lord held out his right hand with a palm outstretched. His face contorted into one of slight concentration, before a cobalt-blue sphere of energy the size of a baseball materialized above his palm. Increasing his concentration, the sphere in the Doctor's palm grew slightly larger in size, before bursting into a small red-and-orange flame. The Doctor's face showed no sign that he was affected by the heat of the fire. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott watched their companion in awe.

The Doctor's face adopted a contemplative glance. "Needs color, I think." With that, the flame changed to a purple one, then blue, and green, before the Doctor curled his fingers tightly, and the flame became an ash-white color. The Pokemon in the cave began to sweat from the intense heat put off from the fire, even Tepig. "Hmmm... Maybe that's too intense, I know." The Doctor's features relaxed themselves, as the flame dulled in intensity to its purple hue again.  
Focusing a tad bit more, the Doctor made the same colbalt-blue energy envelope the flame in a crystal-like shape. When the glow faded, the Doctor was holding a baseball-sized colbalt-blue crystal, with a small purple flame burning on the inside. "So, what do you guys think? Beautiful, isn't it? I call it an Aura Crystal. That flame won't go out as long as the outside crystal is unbroken, and it takes a hell-of-a lot of force to break this thing. I'd say it could last forever, barring such accidents **(3)**." Stuffing the newly made Aura Crystal in a jacket pocket, the Doctor poked his head out of the cave. "Looks like the storm has let up. How about we go back to Nuvema Town now? My clothes look like they have dried as well." The Doctor put on his tweed jacket as his suggestion was met with approval from the three starter Pokemon, and they all stepped out of the cave.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Streets, December 28, 2010, 7 p.m.)_

At a bench on the streets of Nuvema Town, with a view of the forest beyond on Unova Route 1, the Doctor held an ice-cream cone to his mouth with his right hand, licking away at the delectable treat. His left hand held another such cone, held out for Tepig, so he could consume it properly, not having any hands to hold it with. Snivy and Oshawott lapped away at their own cones, relaxing against the bench.

The Doctor decided to speak up, observing the red-orange glow of the sky, as the sun began to disappear under the horizon. "Yep, the sunset's quite lovely now, especially since the storm passed. Makes everything feel just more soothing, doesn't it?"

"Sni."

"Te."

"Osha."

The Doctor beamed after taking another lick of his ice-cream. "Enjoying those ice-creams? Good thing there was a passing ice-cream truck, and I had change to spare **(4)**." The Pokemon nodded before returning to the desserts the Doctor bought them. "This is one of those things I live for. Sometimes, I wish things would stay perfect like this forever, but a man can only dream..." Coming across as someone who experienced a great amount of loss, the Doctor's wishful tone of voice struck a chord among his newly befriended Pokemon. The Doctor finished his cone before noticing that Tepig was close to finishing his as well. "Well once we're done here, how about some dinner? I'm starving." That decision was met with more chimes of agreement from the starter Pokemon.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Melford's Diner, December 28, 2010, 7:15 p.m.)_

The door of an off-street diner chimed open with a ring as the Doctor stepped inside, followed by Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. Many of the patrons looked up in attention as the Time Lord walked in, his Pokemon companions unnoticed for the most part. The Doctor's style of clothes certainly did not help him blend in with most casual settings. Sitting at a table in a distant corner of the diner was a nineteen year old man of about 6' tall. He was of an average build, with light brown hair cut into a military crew cut with serious sideburns. On the back of his neck was a tattoo of the kanji for lie, 嘘. The man wore a top hat, a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses, a black T-shirt under a black windbreaker and plain, baggy ripped jeans. On his feet were a pair of gray running shoes with several knots in the laces. A Ninjask and Crobat was flying at his side. Three face-down playing cards appeared to be lying in a row on the middle of the table. Seated at the other end of the table was another man wearing a white tuxedo and black bowler hat. A scrawny man in a brown trench coat and pants discreetly muttered something into the bowler hat wearing man's ear.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the top hat wearing man. "Something rather fishy seems to be going on here. Let's just grab a table first." Noting the Doctor's serious tone of voice, his Pokemon companions quickly scurried off to find a table on the other side of the establishment.

A waitress walked up to the Time Lord. "Welcome, you're just in time for our dinner special, if you're interested."

The Doctor shrugged, appearing to be somewhat distracted. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

The waitress scrawled something on her notepad. "Something for your Pokemon?"

"Of course." The waitress nodded as she left the Doctor to his devices.

Huddling his Pokemon companions close, the Doctor began to whisper to them. "What that man in the top hat is pulling is a common con job with cards, called the three-card monte. Basically, the dealer, that's him, pulls in some hapless victim, or mark, to con, with the promise of fast money. He is assisted by a shrill, that's the fellow with the trench coat. Now, the rules are simple. The dealer takes a bet from the mark, and lays down three playing cards face-up, pointing out one of them. He tells the mark that this card is the 'winner'. Then he lays all three cards face-down and shuffles them together, randomizing the order. The mark has to pick the 'winner' card in order to win any sort of bet. Of course, the mark will never be able to do so if he isn't smart. The con works like this. At the start of the routine, the dealer will subtlely bend a corner of the 'winner' card, making sure the mark can see it, but pretending that he himself cannot. In case the mark is unobservant, the shrill will point this out to the mark, pretending to help the mark, but actually conspiring to cheat him, since the shrill is actually working with the dealer. Anyways, while the cards are being shuffled around, the dealer will deftly unbend the bent corner of the 'winner' card, and bend a corner on one of the other cards, all corners pre-bent to make this easy. Of course, the dealer will move quickly enough when shuffling so the mark can't perceive this. Now, the mark will move to choose the card with the bent corner, on advice from the shrill, and guess what? It isn't the 'winner' card, and the dealer and the shrill walk away with the mark's money. Simple as that."

Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott showed signs of anger upon hearing the Doctor's explaination of the con, but the Time Lord remained calm. "Don't worry, I'll take care of him. Here's what I want each of you to do." After a few hastily whispered instructions, the Doctor got up from his table and walked over to the con artist. The man wearing the bowler hat having left a minute before, after losing his money. "Hello there, mate. Quiet day, isn't it?"

The man opened his mouth, and the Doctor could tell them he was a smooth talker. "Not too bad, might I intrest you in a game?"

The Doctor pretended to be intregued. "Go on."

"I have three cards, right here." The man flipped up the cards, revealing an Ace of Spades, and two Four of Hearts. "Now, I'm going flip them over, and shuffle them up, and you have to pick the lucky Ace here." The man picked up the Ace of Spades, and slammed a corner against one of the Four of Hearts cards, beding it at that corner. This was immediately noticed by the Time Lord. "You don't want either of these 'losers' here. Just place a bet. Double or nothing."

The Doctor shrugged, reaching into his pocket. Somewhere along the lines, the man's Ninjask disappeared, but no one seemed to notice except the Doctor. Several other diners, having lost the game, began to watch the Doctor, wondering if this newcomer had any luck. Little did they know, luck had nothing to do with it. "Very well, here." The Time Lord slammed a 10,000 Pokedollar bill on the table, which the man picked up and examined, before putting it down. The diners' eyes widened, surprised that anyone would bet such a high amount of money on a seemingly simple card game. "Deal." The man's hands moved to shuffle up the cards.

The Doctor heard a voice whisper in his ear. "Guess what, the corner of that Ace is bent, and the dealer don't even notice." The voice sounded unusally static, and the Doctor turned to acknowledge the trench coat wearing man, the one he had noted as the shrill.

The Time Lord decided to play along. "Well, I'll be..."

The man soon finished shuffling the order of the cards, inviting the Doctor to pick the winner. "Choose wisely."

The Doctor cleared his throat, pointing at the card on the right. "Now, the logical choice would be for me to choose that card with the bent corner, no? Unfortunately for you sir, I know that it wouldn't be possible for me to win, would it now? You're running the three-card monte, but you added a twist, didn't you? You swapped out the actual 'winner' card with a different card hidden in your sleeve, pre-bent to fool me. A third Four of Hears, I presume?"

The man feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing that _I _do, isn't it?" Before anyone could react, the Doctor swiped all three cards off the table and spun around with his fist raised, socking a Ninjask clean in the face, causing it to drop the wallet it was holding. "You sent your Ninjask out to steal my wallet while my back was turned, and look, all three cards are Four of Hearts." The Doctor flashed the cards to the diners, proving that he was right.

His con blown wide open, the man reached for four Pokeballs at his belt with his right hand, his left hand moving to steal the money the Doctor had left on the table. Before his hand could make contact with the bill however, Snivy jumped down from the ceiling, her tail smacking the man's hand hard. The man roared in pain, pulling his hand back as the Grass Snake Pokemon used her tail to scoop up the money. She leapt onto the Doctor's shoulder, handing him the bill. Oshawott leapt onto the table, his hands holding the Doctor's dropped wallet, while Tepig shot Ember attacks at the Ninjask, preventing it from retaking the wallet. Realizing that they had been cheated, the other diners moved to pull out their own Pokemon, but the con artist was faster. He withdrew his Ninjask and Crobat, and aimed a third Pokeball at his shrill, which was revealed to be a Ditto carrying an audio device with recorded lines to feign speech. The con artist sent out an Abra, and ordered it to use Teleport, disappearing quickly from the scene.

The Doctor took his wallet back from Oshawott and reinserted the money he had bet. "Now then, anyone know who that bloke was?"

No one had a clue, except one who had just entered the diner. "I've seen him before. He goes by Wiley Chase. Habitual con artist. Always uses his Abra to escape unfavorable situations. How did you manage to bust him? He's known to be quite fast and subtle."

The Doctor shrugged. "Just good observation, I guess. And some help from my friends here." The Time Lord gestured to the three starter Pokemon. "Guess I have to give a statement to the police, eh?"

"That would be advisable."

The Doctor proceeded to give his statement to an officer who was called to the scene minutes later, signing it under his John Smith alias. The manager of the diner was let off with a warning, as she clearly had no knowledge that Wiley was operating a con in her establishment. The Doctor and his Pokemon companions proceeded to enjoy dinner.

Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott wrinkled their faces as the Doctor dipped a fish finger in custard and began consuming it **(5)**. "What? It tastes good, if you ask me, but that's just my opinion." The Pokemon just decided to take the Doctor's word for it. After the meal was finished, the waitress that served them approached the Doctor. "How much?"

"It's on the house, sir, the manager's thanks for exposing that con artist."

The Doctor reached for his wallet, dealing out a generous tip. "Now, don't spend it all on sweets **(6)**." The waitress blushed as the Doctor left with the starter Pokemon, their stomachs full.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Living Room, December 28, 2010, 8:30 p.m.)_

Everybody in the lab was gathered around the television as a news broadcast chronicling the events of the day was aired. All eyes in the room were focused on the screen as the anchor began talking. A knock on the door was heard, and Adam was dispatched to answer it.

"Good evening. We begin the news with reports of a Zekrom sighting earlier today, which happened at Professor Juniper's laboratory in Nuvema Town. This sighting comes after another one which happened at the same location yesterday, making this the first time Zekrom has been sighted in two successive days. Zekrom's appearances in Nuvema Town were marked by attacks on the facility, causing heavy damage. In an interview over the phone, Professor Juniper is currently in talks with contractors to evaluate and repair the damaged caused. Today's incident marks the thirty-fifth time Zekrom has been sighted this year..."

Everyone turned in attention to look at the door as it opened and Adam returned to the room, followed by the Doctor, looking slightly tired but content. Lying belly down across his left shoulder was Snivy, with her chin resting on the Doctor's chest, with her eyes closed, as she was very much in dreamland. A patch of cloth placed across Snivy's back, and pinned down to the Doctor's jacket with safety pins prevented her from sliding off his shoulder. The Doctor's arms craddled a sleeping Tepig, who looked liked the events of the day had taken a lot out of him. Walking at a slow pace a short distance behind the Doctor was Oshawott, still awake, but looking close to falling asleep himself.

"Well, hello everyone. Found the starter Pokemon here just fine. It was no trouble at all." The other people in the room shrugged as their attention was soon drawn back to the television.

"Symbolizing the vast and deep bonds between people and Pokemon, Zekrom, the dragon of lightning and thunder, features prominently in the mythos of Unova, alongside Reshi-"

Keeping a firm hold on the sleeping Tepig with one arm, the Doctor lunged for the coffee table and grabbed the television's remote, quickly changing the channel, while Oshawott relaxed against the couch. "Er, yes, why are you all watching this? There's nothing to see here. Nothing interesting or fascinating at all..." Ignoring the bewildered looks of the others, the Doctor proceeded to channel surf for a bit before settling on a talk show titled "Straight Talk", which was about to begin. The bespectacled, balding host wore a suit, as he sat across from a similarly dressed handsome man with a full head of brunette hair.

"Good evening, my guest is Senator Peter Newton, and the topic is nuclear energy. Senator, what about the fact that reactor grade plutonium could be used by terrorists to make weapons?"

The handsome man cleared his throat, starting to speak in his deep voice. "Well, that's bad. So I would have to say I am against nuclear energy."

"But you could also argue that in over 50 years of using nuclear energy in Unova, no one has ever been killed in a nuclear power accident."

"That is good. Count me in on that."

"And then there is the enormous cost of disposing of nuclear waste."

"We cannot afford that. Nuclear power has got to go."

"But... But if it does go, we lose the source of 20% of our electricity here in Unova."

"Exactly. There is no way I'm going to tell the good people who elected me to use 20% less electricity. Read my lips, we need nuclear energy. Period."

Seeing as he was going in circles with this man, the host decided to try a different approach. "Let's try this. Gum tastes good."

The senator remained unfazed by the sudden change in topic. "I have always stood up for gum. They will never take gum away."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "How in the name of Gallifrey did this fellow get elected? They might as well vote for a Darmanitan." The Doctor pocketed the remote. "Speaking of which, I guess I'll turn in early tonight, busy day, you know. Don't worry, I know where the guest rooms are. Found them while I was searching for Oshawott. Good night, everyone." The Doctor got up and walked off, Snivy and Tepig still sleeping, while Oshawott followed him quickly behind.

Amy decided to change the channel, since no one had any intrest in the program the Doctor selected, only to realize that the Doctor had pilfered the remote. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 29, 2010, 9 a.m.)_

Refreshed from breakfast, Miri walked down the corridors of the laboratory in search of the Doctor. Seeing as he was gone for most of the previous day, she decided that now was an opportune time to find and interview him. Her face belied frustration at being ignored by the Doctor a few times already. He seemed new to this world, not having any Pokemon and in search of some, yet at the same time, he did not, considering his knowledge of how things worked. The journalist had a deadline to meet, and having the Doctor's story would make any news agency's day.

Miri had a slight burst of confidence as she thought of a way to coax the information out of the Doctor, since he evidently will not provide it easily. Since he had rescued those starter Pokemon, they would likely want to stick with him, providing him with three Pokemon already. She was not much of a battler, but Miri felt that she could do well against those starters, if the Doctor used them. After all, they were Pokemon that were given to new Trainers, and likely had little, if any battle experience. It was settled. She would battle the Doctor for knowledge of his past with Zekrom, and why he was so evasive about the other dragon's name. If she was defeated, it would prove that the Doctor had exceptional skill as a beginning Trainer, and a profile of his battling style would be interesting to write as an article. It was a win-win situation, as even if the Doctor lost, he might have some interesting battle tricks that would look good written in an article anyway.

Miri soon found the Doctor with his back to her, standing to face a window in the presentation room, his hands holding a cup and saucer of tea **(7)**. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott were at his feet, munching on dishes of Pokemon food. "Doctor!"

Recognizing Miri's voice, the Time Lord closed his eyes for a second in contemplation before taking another sip of his tea. Deciding to acknowledge her, he slowly turned around to face the journalist. "Yes, Miri?"

"I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

* * *

Author's notes: What a long chapter, that sure took quite a bit out of me. What the Doctor did for Snivy is a method of hypnotherapy you can try at home as a form of positive self-empowerment. Anyways, here's the glossary.

(1) The Doctor is a skilled hypnotist, and has frequently used this skill to help others through hypnotherapy.

(2) As "Geronimo" is the catchphrase of the Doctor's eleventh incarnation, "Fantastic" is the catchphrase of his ninth incarnation.

(3) This is a reference to the a comment made by the Doctor's second incarnation in the serial "The War Games" as to how long Time Lords can live, the "accidents" in question being any cicumstances which would cause one to die.

(4) The Doctor's comment is an understatement, since he is actually very wealthy. Due to his nomadic lifestyle in the TARDIS, the Doctor frequently carries large amounts of currencies from various worlds, since most of his trips are unplanned, and he goes places on a whim.

(5) Fish fingers with custard were the Doctor's first proper meal for his eleventh incarnation following his regeneration. After a few rejections of conventional foods, Amy helped the newly regenerated Doctor find something he liked, in the episode "The Eleventh Hour".

(6) This is a reference to lines spoken by the Doctor's ninth and eleventh incarnations as they handed large sums of money to others to do with as they pleased, in the episodes "The Long Game" and "The Lodger" respectively.

(7) The Doctor is a big tea drinker, and his fondness for tea is one thing that has stayed constant throughout all his incarnations.

I'm still taking OCs. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Wiley Chase belongs to Indigo Hare.**


	7. A Battle for the News!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air." _– Henry Anatole Grunwald

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 7: A Battle for the News!**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Presentation Room, December 29, 2010, 9:05 a.m.)_

For a few seconds, the Doctor's facial expression did not change, and he stood as still as a statue, prompting Miri to wonder if he had even heard her request for a battle. The Time Lord took another sip of tea before deftly placing the teacup on its saucer. His Pokemon companions perked up, waiting to hear his answer. Even though he was not technically their Trainer, they would eagerly battle for him if he wanted them to. The Doctor turned his back to Miri, and walked towards a chair in the middle of the room, calmly taking a seat.

Setting his cup of tea down on the steel table on which Professor Juniper used to line up starter Pokemon for beginning Trainers to choose from, the Doctor crossed his arms, and raised his head to look Miri in the eye. "A battle? What's the occasion?" Miri gritted her teeth slightly, misinterpreting the Time Lord's honest question as a cheeky comment. He should know better than to rudely walk out on her when she was halfway giving him an interview. Little did she know, the Doctor had an inkling of why she might be approaching him for a battle. He knew full well that what he did was rude, but that was an aspect of his past he was not too keen on revisiting just yet. Besides, three young Pokemon had run off and someone needed to find them.

Miri straightened her features and took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully so as not to come off as confrontational. "I'm profiling Trainers, and I just think that your battle style would make for a good article. Oh, and how about we make things interesting? If I win, you tell me about your history with Zekrom." Miri tried to hide a sly smile, confident that had the Doctor right where she wanted him. He did look like someone who would step up to any challenge.

The Time Lord uncrossed his arms, closing his eyes. "Incidently, I don't have any Pokemon." Slightly irritated at the way Miri approached the Doctor, and wanting to defend the his honor, Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott left their dishes of Pokemon food behind and rushed over to the chair he was sitting at, gathering at his feet. Snivy and Oshawott waved at the Doctor, while Tepig jumped up and down repeatedly, quickly getting his attention. "Oh, you guys will battle for me?" The Pokemon nodded. "Why, thank you very much!" The Doctor turned to Miri. "Assuming that I accept your challenge, what do I get if I win?" Miri suddenly found herself tounge-tied. She had not thought to plan this part out. The Doctor simply shrugged. "No matter, I'm not the sort to demand any form of tribute from a losing party should I emerge the victor. Why is my past with Zekrom that important to you?"

Miri felt like the Doctor was deliberately driving her in circles. "I'm a journalist, coverage of this would be a great scoop."

"Oh, so that's just it, huh? My past, my personal history, printed out on newsprint for the whole world to see? What happened to privacy? Or does that word not exist in the volcabulary of journalism?"

Miri huffed, walking in closer to the Doctor's personal space, forcing the starter Pokemon to move aside to avoid getting kicked by her feet. "It's what I do." The tension in the room began to rise.

"Who will believe you? You're painting a picture of a man that claimed to have encountered Zekrom, of all Pokemon, before."

"Zekrom doesn't simply attack any random person out of the blue."

"And you would be right. But what will you write? Will you twist words around to make me look less dignified?"

"I never lie, I just add more spice."

"A euphemism to say that you won't write the article exactly with _my_ words, am I right? What will you change, be blunt about, _exaggerate_? From what I see, I have things to lose by agreeing to your challenge."

"The people deserve to know what is happening around them."

"Oh do they now? Well then, there's just one thing left to do."

"And what would that b-..."

The Doctor gazed sharply into Miri's eyes, and they glazed over, stopping her from finishing her sentence. The Time Lord placed his left index and middle fingers on her forehead. Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott looked up in surprise at the Doctor's actions. "You will drop any pretense of challenging me to a battle to gain knowledge of my past with Zekrom. This battle will be strictly so you can evaluate my battling style and write an article about it. Additionally, you will write an article about my encounter with Zekrom yesterday, how I diverted the Deep Black Pokemon from the laboratory by demanding that it leave, and that is all I did, since it recognized me from a past encounter. Any relevent details to my past with Zekrom will be excised from the article, since you decided that your publisher would reject them as nonsense." The Doctor snapped his fingers, and Miri's eyes returned to normal.

Miri shook her head for a few seconds. "What happened?"

The Doctor reached for his cup of tea. "You were asking me about a battle?"

"Oh, that's right, so I can look over your battling style for the 'Trainer's Corner' of the papers."

"Writing about Zekrom?"

"Yeah, you just ordered Zekrom to leave, and it listened, that's right."

"Anything else?"

"You met Zekrom at least once before, that's how it knew you. But I don't think I can write that without being fired by my editor. There's just no proof, especially since you seem to be new to Unova. Sorry. At least Professor Juniper can vouch for you on what happened yesterday."

The Doctor nodded. "Alright then. Go get ready, and tell Professor Juniper, Rory, and Amy. I'll see you outside in a bit." Miri gave the Doctor a nod and walked out of the presentation room. The Time Lord took a sip of tea with a sigh. Noticing the questioning looks of his Pokemon companions, the Doctor sighed again. "Yeah, I hypnotized **(1)** her into thinking that my encounter with Zekrom yesterday was simpler than it actually is. I didn't demand that Zekrom leave, I commented on how I stood in its way sometime in the past. And Zekrom didn't simply go away, it tried to fry me with its lightning bolts four times beforehand, and then damaged my TARDIS. Well, Oshawott knows what I'm talking about, I'll explain what it is to you two later, Snivy and Tepig. Look, I'm not particularly proud of what I just did, and I try not to do this sort of thing to others at all, but she was starting to pry too deeply, and I'm just not comfortable with it. It's likely that I may have to deal with this information becoming public later, but for now, I just want as few people to know as possible. Please try to understand." The Pokemon lowered their heads in sympathy for the Time Lord.

The Doctor then decided to see if he could soften the impact of his hypnotism of Miri in the eyes of the Pokemon. "Oh, and if this eventually becomes public, Miri will know the truth. Don't worry about her losing her job because she wrote an article that turned out to be untrue. No other journalists knew what really happened, since Professor Juniper assured me earlier this morning that she didn't say anything about me in her phone interview to the news. Makes sense, since I'm new here and most people in the world have no idea who I am. If and when the truth does come out, it will be from my mouth, and Miri will be the first journalist to get a full sense of what really happened. I'll give her the information personally. She can write another article, and the only person that can be blamed for this absense of information before, will be me, since I did everything in my power to ensure that it stays hidden, for now at least." The Doctor finished his tea, and gestured to the half-eaten bowls of Pokemon food. "Finish up your breakfast. Beginning the day on a less-than-full stomach is one of the most common mistakes kids these days make." The Pokemon dashed off to obey the Doctor's request. The Time Lord was allowed a brief moment of contemplation. _"Zekrom attempted to attack me four times, he couldn't be back, could he?" _The Doctor shook the thought out of his mind and got up from his chair. "Done already? Let's go."

The Pokemon moved to follow the Time Lord out the door. The Doctor did not get very far down the corridor when he collided head-first into another person walking in from an adjoining passage.

Rubbing his head to get over his slight disorientation, the Doctor saw that he had bumped into Nathen, the boy he only saw twice the previous day, due to his absenses from the laboratory. "Oh, sorry about that, mate. You must be Nathen. I'm the Doctor, whom I'm sure you've heard quite a bit about. Hmmm... You weren't at breakfast earlier. Slept in?"

Nathen took a moment to steady himself against a wall before acknowledging the Doctor. "That's alright. Yeah, I went to bed later. Nice to finally meet you properly, Doctor. Is that your real name, or do you have an actual one?"

"John Smith, but I prefer just being called the Doctor." Nathen noted the name, and wanted to question the Doctor about his unusual behavior the previous day, but decided that it was an issue he could deal with later, not wanting to unintentionally offend the Time Lord with any further probing.

"If you say so. Nice to see that you found those Pokemon. Had a good morning?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I've had better. Now, I accepted a challenge from Miri for a Pokemon battle. Interested in watching it?"

Nathen nodded. "Sure, but I haven't had anything to eat yet."

"Oh, just grab a breakfast muffin and some hot chocolate or something. We'll be battling in the yard outside." After leaving the boy behind, the Doctor headed to the prearranged battlegroundwith his Pokemon companions, knowing that the other occupants had been informed.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Yard, December 29, 2010, 9:30 a.m.)_

"So you're just going to keep the Pokemon?" Amy seemed indignant at the Doctor's intentions. "Those Pokemon are meant to be for beginning Trainers!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you're implying that I'm not one?"

"You certainly don't act like one."

The Doctor sighed. "Well, you got me there **(2)**. I already talked it over with Professor Juniper and she said that it was fine with her as long as the Pokemon are happy with me. I even asked the Pokemon myself to make sure of that."

Amy's expression suddenly shifted to a cheeky one. "I guess Professor Juniper was right about the Pokemon sticking to you like flies on flypaper."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, appearing to be rather offended. "Couldn't you come up with a better analogy? That doesn't exactly reflect well on the bonds _most _people have with their Pokemon."

Amy ignored the Doctor's comment. "So you really are keeping the Pokemon? Like you kept those clothes you looted from the hospital **(3)**?"

"What? I've saved the universe, for about a million times, no charge. Yeah, shoot me, I'm keeping the Pokemon **(4)**."

"That has nothing to do with it."

The Doctor shrugged. "Say what you will. But if you want to do well for youself in this world, I recommend that you pay attention. And that goes for Rory as well. Pokemon battling does form the backbone of mostly everything here, you know."

"So you know how to battle then?"

"Of course."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not a beginning Trainer?"

The Doctor huffed slightly. "Didn't we just go over this?"

Amy chuckled. "That we did." The woman walked off to join her husband, Professor Juniper, and Nathen on the sidelines, where some chairs were placed to accomodate them. Adam was called upon to referee the match.

The Doctor huffed, relegated to his thoughts. _"Sometimes, I think that woman gets a kick out of driving my blood pressure up. Hope she isn't too much for my two hearts _**(5)**_ to take. I really don't want to regenerate before my prime." _Looking up, the Time Lord noticed that his opponent was nowhere in sight. "Where's Miri?"

Rory called out to the Doctor. "Weren't you paying attention? There was a knock on the door, and she volunteered to answer it, since you were busy talking to Amy and obviously won't battle then." The Time Lord shrugged. Just then, Miri returned with a thirteen year old girl in tow. She had sky-blue eyes, and kept her light brown curly hair tied in a ponytail. The girl was fair skinned, quite short, and had a rather skinny build. She wore long white lab-coat which concealed a light-blue T-shirt and jean shorts underneath. Set on her forehead was a pair of black sunglasses with orange-tinted lenses, and slung across her body was a beige shoulder-bag.

Walking over to Professor Juniper, the girl reached into her bag and pulled out a letter. "Professor Juniper? Hi, I'm Skylar DeVienne. Professor Rowan sent me from Sinnoh to come and help you with some research, and so I could gain some experience doing field work in Unova. Here's the letter he asked me to give you."

Professor Juniper took the envelope from Skylar. "Oh that's right, Professor Rowan told me over the phone that you would be coming, but you arrived earlier than expected. I like that in a researcher. You're just in time to watch a battle, if you're interested. That man, over there, is a researcher like you, and he's about to partake in his first Pokemon battle." Overhearing the professor's words, the Doctor kept a straight face, knowing that her statement was far from the truth. The professor turned to the people on the sidelines. "Everyone, this is Skylar. She's a researcher from Sinnoh here to do some field work in Unova under my supervision."

Skylar walked over to join the observers with a spring in her step. She raised her right hand in greeting. "Hello." The observers slowly muttered out their greetings.

"Hey there, I'm Nathen.

"I'm Rory."

"Amy. We're assistants to that guy over there, our researcher, John Smith. Or, as he prefers to be called, the Doctor."

Rory decided to speak up. "And that's Miri. She's a journalist who's evaluating the Doctor's battling style for an article she's writing."

Skylar nodded and took a seat. "This would be interesting to watch."

Adam cleared his throat. "This will be a 3-on-3 battle with no substitutions. The battle will be over when all three Pokemon on one side are unable to battle. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" replied Miri. The Doctor simply gave a slow nod.

Miri: 3

The Doctor: 3

"Then begin!" declared Adam.

Miri took out a Pokeball and hurled it. "Come on, Lopie!" Miri's Pokeball opened to reveal her Lopunny, who landed squarely in front of her Trainer.

The Doctor grinned. "Nicknames, huh? Well, I'll be. Alright then, guess I'll choose Tepig." The Time Lord simply took a Pokeball from his belt and silently tossed it. It opened, and out leapt Tepig, small flames emitting from his snout. The Fire Pig Pokemon turned to stare at Adam, giving him a nasty snarl before returning his attention to the Lopunny in front of him. "You may have the first move."

Miri smiled. "Gladly, Lopie, let's start things off with Dizzy Punch!" Lopie complied, charging at the Fire Pig Pokemon with the ends of her ears glowing.

The Doctor looked calm. "Hmmm... That'll be hard to dodge... Tepig, Flame Charge!" Tepig cloaked himself in fire and began running at the Lopunny, hitting her head-on. The Loppunny shook off the hit, and continued to preservere, knocking Tepig backwards. Tepig stumbled to his feet, his movements suddenly erratic, with stars for eyes, and Torchic circling his head.

"Looks like Tepig's confused, this could cost the Doctor." remarked Skylar.

The Time Lord tried to order an attack from his Pokemon. "Tepig, Ember." But the Fire Pig Pokemon stumbled around in a confused daze.

Miri smirked. "Lopie, use Dizzy Punch again!" Lopie moved forward with her attack, scoring a clean hit on Tepig. The stars in Tepig's eyes disappeared as the Fire Pig Pokemon was cured of his confusion.

"Tepig, get in there for a Tackle attack."

"Dodge it, Lopie!"

"I was counting on that."

"What?"

"Tepig, Ember, and then use Flame Charge." As Miri had ordered, Lopie jumped gracefully out of the way from Tepig's Tackle, but the Fire Pig Pokemon fired a stream of fire bolts from its snout, nailing the Lopunny when she landed. Tepig then took advantage of his opponent's distraction to slam into her with Flame Charge.

"Lopie, while Tepig's in close, Jump Kick."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Dodge it!" Lopie swung her leg around in a roundhouse kick, which Tepig attempted to flee from.

"Interesting situation." remarked Nathen.

Rory looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"If that Jump Kick attack misses, Lopunny would wind up hurting herself with crash damage. If it connects, it could do serious damage to Tepig." replied Nathen. Unfortunately for the Fire Pig Pokemon, he was unable to escape the attack's range. Tepig was knocked flying several feet from the strike. "TEPIG!" The Doctor ran forward to catch his falling Pokemon, revealing Tepig to be out with swirly eyes.

Adam gazed at the Doctor. "Tepig is unable to battle, and the winner is Lopunny."

Miri moved to congratulate her Pokemon. "Good job, Lopie."

Miri: 3

The Doctor: 2

"Tepig's out, and it seems that Lopunny is still fired up to battle." remarked Nathen. The Doctor returned Tepig, and reached for another Pokeball, sending out the Pokemon inside without a word. The Pokeball opened, revealing Oshawott, who turned to Adam with a distinct glare, before returning to face Lopie.

The Doctor did not hesitate in issuing a command. "Oshawott, try for a Tackle attack." Oshawott nodded and began charging at Lopie.

"Lopie, get out of the way with Bounce." The Lopunny jumped high up into the air, avoiding Oshawott completely, before slamming down on the Sea Otter Pokemon.

The Doctor did not look impressed. "Oshawott, Water Gun."

"Mirror Coat." The Doctor narrowed his eyes. While still under her weight, Oshawott fired a stream of water at Lopie, but the Lopunny glowed in a reflective color. The Water Gun struck Lopie, but also reflected back and hit Oshawott, who suddenly looked weak.

Skylar whistled. "Oshawott was tricked into dealing doubled damage to himself due to Mirror Coat. This does not look good."

The Doctor kept a calm face. "Try this then, Razor Shell."

"Jump off Oshawott, quickly!" At Miri's command, Lopie hastened in removing her body weight from the Sea Otter Pokemon, while Oshawott removed his scalchop, and elongated a pillar of water from it. He swung the scalchop, and struck Lopie hard, before replacing the scalchop on his chest.

"Tackle, Oshawott!"

"Use Bounce again." Lopie leapt into the air, once again avoiding Oshawott's Tackle.

But the Doctor was prepared this time. He pointed at the descending Lopunny. "Razor Shell!" As the Lopunny moved in for a strike, Oshawott knocked her away with his attack. "Tackle!"

"Dizzy Punch, Lopie." As Oshawott's Tackle made contact, Lopie socked him twice with the ends of her glowing ears, knocking off Oshawott's scalchop.

"Get that scalchop back, Oshawott!" Oshawott nodded, and began running towards his fallen weapon.

Miri smirked. "Big mistake. Jump Kick, Lopie." The Lopunny pursued Oshawott, before swinging around and kicking the Sea Otter Pokemon. With a shriek, Oshawott flew through the air, before crashing in an unconscious heap.

Adam raised his right hand. "Oshawott is unable to battle. Lopunny is the winner." The Doctor calmly walked towards the fainted Oshawott and picked up his scalchop. With a small smile, the Time Lord gently placed the scalchop on Oshawott's chest before recalling the Sea Otter Pokemon.

Miri: 3

The Doctor: 1

"Now the Doctor has one Pokemon left. But that Lopunny looks really tired out." remarked Skylar. "He's not going to throw in the towel, is he?"

Amy shook her head. "The Doctor wouldn't be the Doctor if he did."

Professor Juniper nodded. "That's the kind of attitude I'd like to see. I find myself quite admiring this man."

Miri looked a tad disappointed at the battle's progress. "Not giving up?" The Doctor's only answer was to reach for his third and final Pokeball, tossing it in the air, and sending out Snivy. The Grass Snake Pokemon looked at Adam, giving him an angry hiss, before staring at Lopunny.

Miri moved to issue a command. "Dizzy Punch!"

The Doctor was fast on his feet. "Dodge it, spin around, and use Tackle." As Lopie charged in with her ears extended, Snivy jumped gracefully out of the way. While still airborne, she flexed her body, and shot towards the Lopunny's back like a missile. Extending her right leg out, Snivy landed a hit on Lopie's back, sending the Rabbit Pokemon to the ground with swirly eyes.

Irritated at the refereeing position, Adam decided to give his two cents, displeased that the Pokemon he tormented did not go down like her two friends. "Lopunny is unable to battle. Snivy wins."

Rory was amazed. "Lopie went down in one hit?"

Professor Juniper ran a hand through her hair. "Well, she was tired out from fighting Tepig and Oshawott. That, and Razor Shell has a chance of lowering the opponent's Defense. Lopie took two such attacks."

Miri: 2

The Doctor: 1

"Good job, Lopie, take a good rest. Now, let's show 'em what we got, Candy!" After recalling her Lopunny, Miri took a second Pokeball and hurled it, revealing the Castform inside. "Now Candy, use Hail." The Castform complied, causing the skies to darken, and small hailstones began to fall.

Professor Juniper frowned. "Had I known Miri would be using Candy in this battle, I would have brought an umbrella. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to bear with the weather." This was met with groans from several of the onlookers. Candy shifted to its Snowy Form.

Amy was surprised. "What happened to that Pokemon?"

Nathen decided to explain. "It's Castform's special ability, Forecast, which allows the user to change type and appearance based on the weather. Since it's hailing, Candy took on her Snowy Form and became an ice-type Pokemon. A good choice, since all Pokemon except ice-types are dealt damge in this weather. Plus, as a grass-type, Snivy is weak to ice-type attacks."

The Doctor wasted no time. "Vine Whip!" Snivy extended two vines from her shoulders and began viciously whipping Candy with them.

"Get out of there, and use Weather Ball." Candy glided away from Snivy and charged a white ball of energy with streams of ice from her mouth, which she shot at the Grass Snake Pokemon. Slowed down and slightly disoriented by the hailstorm, Snivy took the hit full on, the type advantageous attack causing her to pant slightly.

Calm as ever, the Doctor thought quickly. "Snivy, use Leaf Tornado." Snivy complied, creating a green, leaf-filled tornado she sent whizzing towards Candy.

But Miri had an answer to that. "Dodge it and use Weather Ball."

"Keep up the attack, Snivy.

"What?" Despite Candy gliding away from Snivy, she continued to spin, preventing the tornado from disappearing. The Weather Ball attack the Castform had charged and fired in the meantime became caught in the vortex of air created by Leaf Tornado, and stayed suspended, preventing it from hitting Snivy.

The Doctor grinned. "Now!" Snivy lunged forward, her attack sucking Candy into it. Caught within Snivy's Leaf Tornado, Candy was forced to endure the leaves inside battering her frame. But the worst of it was her Weather Ball attack, which the tornado had previously ensnared. The ball of white energy spun around inside the tornado and slammed into Candy, forcing her to take the brunt of her own attack. With a smirk, Snivy hurled the tornado at the ground. The hail disappeared, causing Candy to revert to her Normal Form. The Castform was struggling to get up from the ground.

Miri looked alarmed. "Quick, use Shock Wave!"

"Don't let Candy recover, Snivy. Tackle and Vine Whip!" As the Castform began to charge her attack, Snivy dashed over and slammed into her with a Tackle, before lashing out with her vines, breaking Candy's focus, and causing an explosion, catching Candy in the blast. Winching slightly from the Shock Wave she took, Snivy leapt out of the dust cloud created, and landed neatly on the ground a short distance away, dusting her hands off. The cloud dispersed to reveal an unconscious Castform with swirly eyes.

Adam looked at the unconscious Pokemon. "Castform is unable to battle, and the winner is Snivy." The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief.

Miri: 1

The Doctor: 1

"Now they both each have one Pokemon left." remarked Rory.

Skylar nodded. "Snivy seems like she's really tough to stick it out like that."

The Doctor casually shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "I would assume that you won't be giving up either now?" Miri reached for a third Pokeball, trying to decide between Marie the Azumarill, her strongest battler, or the highly disobdient Sonia the Swellow, which had a type advantage, but tended to do things on her own volition, which could cost her Trainer dearly, since the Doctor appeared to be very capable of strategizing on the fly. Then again, Snivy took quite a bit of damage battling Candy.

Miri quickly made her decision. "You did well, Candy, rest for now." Recalling her Castform, Miri turned to face the Doctor. "You got that right, let's go Marie!" With a throw of the Pokeball, Miri's Azumarill emerged. Marie bounced on the ground a few times, her expression warning Snivy not to underestimate her because she had a type disadvantage to the Grass Snake Pokemon. Snivy simply crossed her arms and closed her eyes with a confident smirk.

The Doctor decided to start. "Snivy, use Leaf Tornado."

"Dodge it." Marie leapt out of the way as Snivy's tornado attempted to suck her into its confides. "Now, use Ice Beam!"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Dodge it!" Snivy leapt and somersaulted several times, as the Ice Beam struck the ground in multiple places where she was standing a few seconds ago, forming several small ice pillars. "Use Leaf Tornado on the ice!" Snivy complied, reversing her direction and causing her tornado to travel along the newly-formed ice, breaking it to several pieces. The shards of ice whirled around in the tornado much like Candy's Weather Ball did. "Now, reverse the polarity **(6)**!" The Doctor looked flustered when he realized what he had just said. "Er, I mean reverse the spin!" Snivy did as she was told, sending fragments of ice flying from the tornado at the Azumarill.

Miri called out an order. "Marie, use Whirlpool!" Marie raised her arms, creating a giant whirlpool above her head. The shards of ice made contact with the vortex of water and were sucked into it, spinning rapidly around inside. "Now, toss it!" Snivy quickly found herself on the receiving end of an ice filled Whirlpool.

"By the way, what happened to the laboratory?" asked Skylar, as she decided to start a conversation.

"Zekrom struck it twice." replied Professor Juniper.

"I've heard Zekrom has been appearing in Unova since this year, but attacking this location?"

"Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Skylar nodded. "Yeah."

The Doctor's eyes widened slightly as his Snivy was sucked into the Whirlpool. "Oooo... That could be a problem..." Snivy was tossed straight into the air after being swirled in the Whirlpool and pelted with ice.

Miri made her move quickly, pointing at the airborne Grass Snake Pokemon. "Ice Beam!"

"Hang on, Snivy! Use Leaf Tornado!" Acting quickly on her feet, Snivy formed a tornado just as the Ice Beam reached her, causing it to swirl around the vortex of air, harmlessly away from Snivy for the most part. Within the Leaf Tornado, Snivy slammed down on Marie hard. She leapt out of the dispersing tornano, down on one knee.

"Snivy may have averted much of the damage from Ice Beam, but she still clearly felt some of that." remarked Nathen. Forcing herself to stand, a green glow surrounded Snivy's body. "That's Overgrow!"

Amy looked confused. "Overgrow?"

Skylar decided to answer for Nathen. "It's a special ability Snivy has that increases the power of her grass-type moves when her health is very low. Of course, that's something the Doctor has to watch out for, since Snivy is evidently quite weak now."

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Overgrow, huh? Well then, use Vine Whip, Snivy!" Snivy smirked, then seemed to disappear. Marie looked frantically around for her opponent.

"Snivy's behind you, Marie!" The Azumarill turned around, only to receive a couple of lashings from Snivy's vines.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Leaf Tornado." Snivy smirked, and engulfed the Azumarill in a tornado.

Miri thought quickly. "I'll take advantage of Huge Power, so use Waterfall!" Within the tornado, a shower of water surrounded Marie, and shot upwards, engulfing Snivy.

"What's Huge Power?" asked Rory.

"An ability of Azumarill that doubles their Attack, and thus doubling the power of any moves that make phsical contact with an opponent, such as Waterfall." replied Professor Juniper.

An explosion emitted from the tornado with Waterfall inside, flinging both Pokemon far from the attacks. Strong winds blew forth, causing everyone to try and shield themselves from being blown away. Marie was thrown away from the tornado, and landed with a hard thud a few meters behind her Trainer.

The Doctor's eyes widened as he saw where Snivy was headed, just as Skylar was making a comment. "So Zekrom has been showing up here lately. I haven't heard any news of the other dragon. Has it been appearing as well? You know, Reshi-"

"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" ordered the Time Lord. Eyes widened, the observers quickly evacuated their seats, just as Snivy crashed into them hard.

When the dust settled, Adam looked over the scene, noticing that both Marie and Snivy were out cold.

Miri: 0

The Doctor: 0

"Both Azumarill and Snivy are unable to battle, this match is a draw! And now I need some coffee." With his job complete, Adam walked off to do as he had just mentioned. The Doctor turned around, and walked to the chairs, most of which were knocked askew from the Grass Snake Pokemon's impact. The Time Lord scooped up Snivy in his arms, and took out her Pokeball, recalling her. Miri did likewise with her unconscious Azumarill.

Professor Juniper turned to Skylar. "And to answer your question, Skylar, no, the _other dragon_ has not been seen or heard from, though Zekrom has."

Skylar nodded. "I see."

The Doctor walked over to Miri, who stood up with her Pokeball in her hands. "Thanks for a great battle, Doctor. You've given me quite a bit to write about."

The Doctor nodded. "Glad I could be of assistance." He turned to the onlookers. "Well, sorry about that. Completely an accident. Yeah, that's right, an accident. Well, unless there's anything else, I would suggest going inside now."

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Infirmary, December 29, 2010, 10 a.m.)_

"So you found that Lillipup under a bench, and brought it here, Amy?" The Doctor looked at the sleeping Pokemon, while his and Miri's Pokemon were getting treatment of their own. Amy nodded. "I'd say you did the right thing. Wouldn't have done anything different in your shoes. So, how is he?"

"Professor Juniper said that he should be fine enough to be discharged tomorrow."

"I see. Well, looks like we're staying here tonight as well. I think that Lillipup needs a Trainer, and lucky for him, he found one in you."

Amy blushed. "You think so?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Rory perked up. "That's what I told her. Told you the Doctor would approve, Amy."

Professor Juniper walked toward the group, a number of Pokeballs in hand. "Your Pokemon are all fully recovered. Not too bad for your first battle, Doctor."

The Time Lord gave a slight bow. "Why, thank you."

Miri nodded and took her Pokemon back. "Well, I've got to write the first draft of that article now, I'll be in the library if anyone needs me. Nathen said he has some strategies to show me.

The boy blushed. "Sure." The two left the room.

Professor Juniper turned to the Doctor, Rory, and Amy. "Any idea on what you three plan on doing now?"

The Doctor smiled. "Considering that we'll be here for quite a while, I figued that I'd challenge some gyms, maybe take part in the Unova Conference. It'll be a great opportunity to further research in Unova Pokemon, maybe catch more of my own" Rory and Amy shrugged, unsure of their plans in Unova.

The professor nodded. "Alright. You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you? Best of luck to you then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to show Skylar here the lab." Professor Juniper and Skylar exited the room.

The Doctor looked at Rory and Amy. "Right then, since we'll be travelling through Unova, we'll need to pack some supplies for the road. And some camping and survival gear if we need to stay on the road. Oh, and I need to hide the TARDIS. Hmmm... That might take a while. Let's go then."

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Outskirts, December 29, 2010, 11 a.m.)_

"Seriously, Doctor, that's your idea for hiding the TARDIS? _Burying it?_" Amy huffed as the Doctor handed them each a shovel, even giving Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott miniature versions, after everyone had finished packing a large backpack each with survival items from the TARDIS.

"Oh, _shut up_. I don't see you coming up with a better idea, Pond. Don't worry, I locked the TARDIS securely. Nothing should be able to get in or out. Besides, we have what we need, and the Pokemon even chipped in to help. The TARDIS is quite something, eh, Snivy? Tepig?"

The Pokemon nodded after having seen the interior. "Sni."

"Te."

Amy huffed. "That's not what I'm worried about."

The Doctor smiled. "What, the manual labor? A little effort doesn't hurt anyone, I'll say."

Rory shrugged. "I feel like an undertaker. Or a murderer trying to dispose of a body."

The Doctor chuckled. "Nothing like a little humor to lighten the mood, eh, Rory? Now, this might take a few hours, so I suggest we get started. Snivy, use Leaf Tornado to bore into the ground for a bit. Might give us an idea of a good spot for the hole." As Snivy began boring through the ground with her tornado, the Doctor began to think. _"Good thing these backpacks work like the TARDIS and my jacket pockets, so we can store a lot of things in them. I took my outfit from the closet and packed it in my backpack, and lucky no one saw me do it. I even took the claymore and the crown, though that might be a bit over the top. That's weird, I could have sworn that the claymore was strapped to the wall of the closet when I last saw it. Wonder why it was lying on the floor. That was a valuable memento of Reshi- Nevermind. Oh well, at least nothing is damaged. I put the outfit in a secure compartment in my backpack and locked it. Hopefully no one will get any ideas and look there." _

The Doctor shook himself from his thoughts. "That looks like a good spot. Alright everyone, let's start digging. And Rory, make sure that egg of yours is in a safe spot. Don't want to get dirt on it". Rory nodded, while Amy groaned at the work she was being made to do. The Pokemon began doing the assigned task with gusto, despite the fact that their shovels were small and did not lift that much dirt. The Time Lord and Rory soon followed suit, with Amy reluctantly grabbing her shovel.

* * *

Author's notes: If anyone is curious, I rolled a die to determine the result of the Doctor and Miri's battle. Hope you all liked it anyway. Anyways, here is the glossary.

(1) Apart from hypnotherapy, the Doctor is capable of conducting the more aggresive form of hypnotism, consisting of instructing people, which he rarely does due to his own discomfort in tampering with the minds of people. His skill with this is such that he can put most people under his spell with a single gaze.

(2) Amy is known for her ability to outwit the Doctor verbally, sometimes leaving him struggling to find a proper response to her comments.

(3) Following his regeneration, the Doctor's eleventh incarnation obtained his new wardrobe by stealing clothes out of the closet in the hospital where Rory worked, in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", echoing similar behavior by his third and eighth incarnations.

(4) The Doctor's comment is a reference to what he told Amy when he revealed that he was keeping the clothes he took from the hospital.

(5) Time Lords have two hearts and two cardiovascular systems, and can often survive in a greatly weakened state with one heart injured or destroyed. Even if all the blood were removed from one cardiovascular system, the Time Lord could still survive. A Time Lord in total cardiac arrest would need CPR on _both_ hearts. The fact that Time Lords have two hearts also accounts for their increased stamina when compared to humans. If both hearts burnt out simultaneously, the Time Lord would be unable to regenerate and would die permanently.

(6) An often quoted statement by the Doctor's third incarnation, "reverse the polarity" is a simple piece of techno babble which implies that a mechanical problem can be solved if power is routed _backwards_ through the machine in question. The Doctor's tenth incarnation has also used the statement on occasion.

I'm still taking OCs for this story, if anyone is interested. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**


	8. First Steps Through Unova

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"There's one sad truth in life I've found. While journeying east and west, the only folks we really wound are those we love the best." _– Ella Wheeler Wilcox

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 8: First Steps Through Unova**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, December 30, 2010, 10 a.m.)_

Stretching his arms, the Doctor stepped out of Professor Juniper's laboratory, his energy refreshed after a good night's sleep, following long hours of work spent burying the TARDIS a little ways on the outskirts of Nuvema Town.

Amy followed the Time Lord, her arms clutching a recovered and energetic Lillipup, which the Time Lord quickly took notice of. "So, you are bringing that Lillipup along for the ride."

Amy moved to pet her newly acquired Pokemon. "After the warm welcome he gave me at the infirmary, how could I not?" The Doctor smiled, remembering that after breakfast, Professor Juniper entered the dining room with news that the Lillipup was fully recovered. Amy had rushed over to the infirmary, to be greeted with the Puppy Pokemon leaping into her arms and licking her repeatedly on the cheek.

The Time Lord chuckled in amusement. "He's grown on you. Looks like he won you over. And he allowed himself to be captured by you just like that?"

Amy nodded. "Uh huh."

The Doctor held out his right hand. "Alright then, before the others come out, Lillipup's Pokeball, gimme."

Amy hesitated. "What for, some weird Time Lord experiment?"

The Doctor's tone was authoritative. "Just do it, Pond." Amy reluctantly complied, placing the red-and-white sphere in the Time Lord's outstretched palm. Taking his sonic screwdriver in his left hand, the Doctor switched it on and waved it over the Pokeball before returning it to Amy, who gave him a puzzled look.

"What did you do?"

Lillipup was likewise confused. "Arf?"

The Doctor tossed his sonic screwdriver in the air before catching it in his right hand. "I'm sure Professor Juniper informed you that you are only permitted up to six Pokemon on your team at any one time, didn't she? She also gave you, Rory, and I Pokedexes and extra Pokeballs. I also got a badge case since I was challenging gyms. Well, I rewired the tracking data on that Pokeball. Your Pokedex keeps track of your current team and will automatically send any extra Pokemon you capture to Professor Juniper's laboratory for storage. Well, thanks to the sonic, any extra Pokemon will instead be sent to a storage compartment on the TARDIS, provided I repeat that process for any more of your Pokemon. I doubt you want to spend the rest of your life in Unova, so that ensures you take all your Pokemon with you when we leave this world. Now, normally, Trainers have to contact their regional Professor in order to request certain Pokemon be sent to them, in exchange for Pokemon on their team. Should you want to make such a switch, just let me know and the sonic here will do the job instead. All it takes is a simple wave of the device over the Pokeball, and hey presto, the Pokemon you want to switch into your team for it is teleported to your hand, while the other one goes to the TARDIS. Not bad, eh?"

"Thanks, Doctor. Did you do that for your own Pokemon?"

"Anytime. I did it last night before going to bed. Now then, Nathen and Miri are coming with us for a while?"

"Yeah, since Nathen is taking on gyms and Miri is a travelling journalist. She just finished faxing the drafts of her articles to her publisher. Besides, the more the merrier, cliche as that sounds."

"Well, that's good, since people like her have to write quickly while on the go. By the way, how was my battle yesterday?"

The Doctor looked expectantly at Amy. "Certainly interesting. You _sure_ you are a beginning Trainer? You looked like you knew what you were doing for a first battle."

"How many times are you going to ask me that? Seriously now. Even Professor Juniper asked me that question when we got back from hiding the TARDIS."

Amy narrowed her eyes, slightly tightening her arms around the Puppy Pokemon. "Yeah, but she waved it off and considered that you _are_ a researcher and just did your homework. Besides, my arms still ache from that act of slavery. You owe me big time, Doctor." snapped Amy.

The Time Lord shrugged. "Whatever you say. Oh look, here comes Rory, Nathen, and Miri now." The three people mentioned by the Doctor emerged from the building. "Ready to go?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah."

Professor Juniper follwed with Skylar. "Good luck on your journeys."

The Doctor stepped up to the professor, reaching into his jacket and retrieving the Aura Crystal. "Here, a little thank you for your kind hospitality and generousity."

Professor Juniper was taken aback by the gift, clearly not expecting to receive one. "Oh, you shouldn't have, the pleasure was all mine. It's beautiful."

The Doctor smiled and placed the crystal in Professor Juniper's hands. "I'm glad you liked it, it's called an Aura Crystal."

The professor examined the purple flame dancing within the crystal. "I'll have to find a good place for it then."

Skylar bowed slightly to the Time Lord. "I'm staying under Professor Juniper's tutelage here for now, but I hope we'll meet again."

The Doctor placed his hand on the researcher's shoulder. "I'm sure that day will come very soon." The Time Lord walked off to rejoin the others as they said their goodbyes and headed for the Unova region's first route.

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, December 30, 2010, 10:15 a.m.) _

"The man that confronted _that cloud_ just left?"

Adam replied in the affirmative into his cell phone. "Yes, just a few minutes ago, along with a few others, his assistants and two teenagers who came to the lab two days ago. And he someone got out of a locked storage room. Very peculiar."

The stoic voice on the other side of the line seemed to pause for a few moments in contemplation. "Where are they headed?"

"I believe they are on their way to Accumula Town, since they set off in the direction of Route 1."

"You know what needs to be done."

"Right. I'll meet the others there." As Adam hung up the phone, he noticed Skylar walking across the corridor from him. He quickly waved her over. "Hello, Skylar. That's your name, right? Would you kindly remind Professor Juniper that I would be leaving the lab today on an errands run to Accumula Town? I told her that last week, but I think she may have forgotten."

Skylar shrugged. "Okay. What sort of errands? And when will you be back?"

"Oh, in a few days. I have to get some supplies and more Pokemon food for the Trainers' Pokemon."

Skylar nodded and flashed Adam a thumbs-up before scratching her head slightly. "Not a problem, Spencer. By the way, that battle, the Doctor's Pokemon reacted very negatively towards you when he sent them out. Why's that? Did you handle them the wrong way or something?"

Adam was slightly taken aback, but quickly improvised an explaination. "I-I'm n-not too sure, I think it's because I refused to give them more food after they ate the share allocated to them by Professor Juniper. They're young and all, but making them gluttons isn't good for their health, even if they begged. I was _merely_ trying to weed that trait out."

Skylar shrugged, believing Adam's explaination word-for-word. "Okay, that sounds like it was hard, but I hope the Doctor's Pokemon understand that it's for their own good. I'll just tell Professor Juniper now. Have a good trip, Spencer." Skylar walked off with a start, before stumbling slightly over her feet, and falling flat on her face, her sunglasses clattering off a meter away from her. She slowly got up, sheepishly chuckling at Adam's inquisitive look with a flustered blush before picking up her dropped sunglasses. Examining them for any damage, she continued down the corridor. Adam shook his head slightly before leaving the scene.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, December 30, 2010, 10:30 a.m.)_

"So that man is going to Accumula Town. You think he could be the one?"

The fifth man at the table of seven spoke up. "It doesn't matter. Regardless of which, we will continue our plans." remarked the first man. He eyed the black sphere of stone on the table. "And that will lift us into the pages of history.

The fourth man turned to the first man. "Are you ready?"

The first man nodded and stood up, walking towards the door. He opened it, and the light from the outside shined on his features. Standing at a height of 6'7", he had red eyes and long, flowing gray-green hair that reached his shoulders, and he wore a white eyepatch with a red lens which covered his right eye. The collar of his robes was brown and large, resembling the battlements of a castle. A shield logo, white on the right and black on the left, with a blue letter "P" and a backwards "Z" behind it adorned the front of the collar. Below that, his robes were purple on the left, and yellow on the right, with eye designs on both sides, drawn in the opposite side's color Underneath his robes, the man wore a white tunic, with white socks and brown slip-on shoes clothing his feet. "Yes."

The sixth man looked at the first man. "Bringing the boy?"

"Indeed."

"Adam has his instructions?"

"Yes." The first man let out a low chuckle. "The princes of Unova were fools, but we will use their legacy, and be remembered as the ones who truly made this world a more pleasurable place, for people and Pokemon alike." The first man turned his back on his comrades and swept out the room.

The third man was silent in contemplation for a few moments before speaking. "It's funny, but few people know that the two princes were actually twins, yet they were as different as can be. A trait reflected in their dragons, I suppose." He turned to the second man, "Are we finding the other one?"

"In due time, my friend."

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 30, 2010, 11 a.m.)_

"So, Doctor, where did you get that 'Aura Crystal' thing that you gave Professor Juniper?" asked Amy.

"Metebellis III **(1)**." remarked the Doctor, somewhat absent-mindedly.

Miri suddenly seemed interested. "Metebellis III? Where's that? I don't believe there's such a place in the world."

Suddenly realizing what he had said, the Doctor looked flustered. "Er... Oops. I, um, meant to say that I bought it, yes, bought it from a merchant in Nuvema Town yesterday, since I was looking for a gift for Professor Juniper and all." Rory and Amy sent the Doctor suspicious looks, but decided not to probe the matter any further.

"So, Doctor, where are we headed this time?" Amy asked in a slightly irritable tone, surveying the forest surrounding the general vicinity of the route. The Doctor, who was too busy whistling away the awkward situation a minute ago, failed to hear his companion.

Nathen decided to speak up on the Time Lord's behalf. "If we continue to follow this route, Amy, we should eventually reach Accumula Town at the end."

Rory seemed interested. "Oh? Is there anything of intrest there?"

Nathen shrugged. "Come to think about it, not that much, I guess. It's a decently sized town and all, but its main purpose is to serve as a hub between Nuvema Town and Striaton City, the location of Unova's first gym."

"Gym? Right, the Doctor mentioned that he was going to challenge them. What are they, specifically?"

"Places where Trainers come and train their Pokemon. Each gym has a leader which runs it. Defeating the leader earns the Trainer a badge. There are eight gyms in Unova, and collecting all eight badges allows the Trainer to enter an annual regional tournament called the League Conference. Many Trainers participate in them whenever they come around. If you win the whole tournament, you gain the right to challenge the Elite Four, four powerful Trainers considered among the strongest in the region. Beat them all consecutively, and you can face the region's Champion, a Trainer at the highest level. Defeating him will make you the new Champion."

"That sounds intense, mate."

"Believe me, it is. I've only managed to reach the Top 8 or Top 4 in the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn region Leagues. I was the runner-up in the last one I participated in, the Sinnoh League. Now I believe it's high time I took on the Unova League."

Miri perked at the mention of Nathen's achievements. "That's amazing, I think someone might be interviewed more often."

Nathen blushed, suddenly feeling modest. "It's nothing. I'm sure anyone can do it if they set their mind to it. Taking the gym challenge as well, Miri?"

Miri giggled. "Nah, journalism's my thing. I more of the explorer sort."

"I see."

Rory decided to try and revive a conversation with Nathen. "How many Pokemon inhabited regions are there in the world?"

"Five, I believe. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. Of course, there's loads of Pokemon yet to be discovered, so I wouldn't discount the possibility of there being more."

"T-That's f-fascinating-g."

Amy, who had since returned her Lillipup to his Pokeball, decided to ask a question, a tad irritating from the long time the group spent walking. "How long is it until we get to the next town?"

At the head of the group, the Doctor, who had finished his whistling, turned to Amy. "Oh, about eleven hours of walking, actually. So we left Nuvema Town at around 10 a.m., barring any stops, that would enable us to reach Accumula Town at 9 p.m. However, we will need to break for lunch and dinner, so I'd add at least an hour to that total, if we're fast eaters. And before you ask, Amy, that's how Trainers normally go about their routine, long hours of walking. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, where will we be sleeping for the night? On the streets?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Nah, there are facilities in most settlements and on some routes called Pokemon Centres. Convenient little spots. They offer free food and lodging for Trainers, and also heal up Pokemon, free of charge."

Amy seemed skeptical of the free services offered. "And just _who _pays for all of this?"

"Good question, probably the government. As for how they finance it, I don't know at the moment. Hmmm... That's another topic to look into. I don't suppose any of you would know?" The Doctor turned to Nathen and Miri, who both shrugged. "Ah well... Anyway, in theory, we could stop and make camp early in the night, but I believe it would be more convenient to just try and make it to the Pokemon Centre if we can, and avoid that necessity." A brown rodent-like Pokemon with a tan stomach and face ran out of the grass in front of the group. A large tooth stuck out of its mouth, and its head had a black band that covered the eyes, which had red irises with a yellow ring, and black pupils. "Oooo... A Patrat. Try using your Pokedex to scan it, so you learn how to use that device." Rory stepped forward and waved his Pokedex at the creature. Multiple images of the Pokemon appeared on the screen, flashing between various views.

_Patrat, the Lookout Pokemon. They are extremely wary and keep watch outside their burrows in turns. They become anxious if no one keeps watch. _Rory deactivated the Pokedex and pocketed it.

The Doctor turned to face him. "And there you have it. Useful tool, that Pokedex. Also serves as somewhat of an identity card in this world." The Patrat ran back into the grass. "While it may be tempting for beginning Trainers to catch every new Pokemon they see, it is important to remember that certain Pokemon may not be compatible with everyone. It takes a while, but many eventually find the right sort of Pokemon for them. That's why choosing your team is so essential. There has to be good chemistry between team members and their Trainer in order for them to function as a coherent unit, right Nathen?"

The boy nodded. "Something I always consider, Doctor."

"Excellent. Well, it's almost noon, so how about we stop for lunch?"

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 30, 2010, 4 p.m.)_

"Well, we've been walking for quite a while now, but I managed to get some training with my Pokemon in after lunch, so I can't complain." remarked Nathen.

"So have I, but there will be plenty of time to train once we get to Accumula Town. I mean, there's the Battle Club there."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Battle Club?"

Nathen shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "A facility designed to help Trainers train their Pokemon. It has loads of exercise equipment and stuff for that purpose. And many Trainers meet up to have battles there, so it's mutually beneficial for the participants. The staff also offer tips and strategies as well. They are many Battle Clubs scattered across Unova. It's a shame that there aren't any in other regions. They would have been quite a good help when I was travelling through those regions."

The Doctor reached into his pockets and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, twirling it around in the fingers of his right hand. "Well, you'll get to experience it when we actually get to Accumula Town." The Time Lord pushed the sonic screwdriver's button, turning on the device. "Hmmm... There seems to be quite a number of wild Pokemon in this area, judging by the heat signatures I'm getting." Before the Doctor could put away his sonic screwdriver, a small shape leapt out some nearby bushes and swiped it from his hand. "Oi!"

A furry, gray-colored chinchilla-like Pokemon landed on the ground a few meters in front of the Doctor, long and furry tail wrapped around the sonic screwdriver. Its eyes were large and brown, with a small, dot-like nose. It also had limbs that were somewhat rounded and small. After observing Rory use his Pokedex, Amy moved forward with her own device, scanning the small Pokemon.

_Minccino, the Chinchilla Pokemon. Minccino are obsessed with cleaning dirty items. It always brushes up dust in its den using its tail as a broom._

Amy smirked. "Looks like you shouldn't be flaunting your stuff so often, eh Doctor?"

The Time Lord sighed as the Chinchilla Pokemon ran off. "Oh, stop being so snide, Pond. If you'll excuse me, I have a Minccino to catch up to. Oi! Bring that sonic screwdriver back!" The Doctor ran in hot pursuit of the Minccino, leaving the rest of the group to sigh while running after the Doctor.

* * *

_(Unova Route 1, December 30, 2010, 4:30 p.m.)_

After a long chase that lasted a half-hour, the Doctor closed enough distance between himself and the Mincccino. The Time Lord leapt forward and grabbed the Chinchilla Pokemon by its hindlegs. He pulled the Minccino close to his chest, his right hand grabbing the end of the sonic screwdriver in the little Pokemon's mouth. "Speedy little bugger... Come on, give it here!" The Doctor began to wrestle with the Minccino, receiving scratches and small tears on various parts of his clothes as he tried to pry the sonic screwdriver from its hands. The Minccinno's ears tickled the Doctor's nose, causing him to sneeze, dropping the Pokemon. "Oh no, you don't!" Before the Chinchilla Pokemon could make a speedy getaway, the Doctor grabbed it by the tail, hoisting it to his eye level. He grabbed the end of the sonic screwdriver again, resuming the skirmish with the Pokemon.

"I can see tomorrow's headline now. _'Bow tie-wearing idiot _**(2)**_ gets mauled by a Minccino while trying to retrieve child's toy_'..." deadpanned Miri.

Nathen chuckled. "Well, not bad for an end-of-year article. It is the holiday season after all. People should lighten up more. Well, this is weird."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Well, what do you mean by 'weird'?"

"As Amy's Pokedex mentioned, Minccino in general are a species that are obssesed with cleaning dirty items, but that 'toy' of the Doctor's seems to be relatively shiny."

"Er, maybe it's an exception?"

Amy stared intently at the Doctor, who was still struggling with an unusually aggressive Minccino. "Most groups do have an 'oddity' within their ranks, in more ways than one, if you know what I mean." Rory, Nathen, and Miri began to crack up at Amy's well-placed verbal jab directed at the expense of the Doctor. The Time Lord eventually managed to snag the sonic screwdriver from the Minccino, and leapt away from the Chinchilla Pokemon, but the speedy little creature was not to be outwitted. The Minccino jumped up and latched itself to the Doctor's face, causing the Time Lord to grab its tail tightly, making strangled gagging noises along the way. Removing his hand from the Pokemon's tail, the Doctor grabbed one of the Minccino's hindlegs and pulled it from his face, quickly repeating the process for the other hindleg. Quickly grabbing the Chinchilla Pokemon by the torso, the Doctor flipped it up and over his head, dislodging it, and then leapt backwards to prevent any further attacks on his person. The Time Lord quickly stashed his sonic screwdriver in his jacket pocket, and reached for a Pokeball on his belt, tossing it without a word.

The Pokeball opened, revealing Oshawott. "Wott."

The Doctor looked at the Minccino. "Listen, it doesn't have to come down to this. You can just leave now, and I won't pursue you. Everyone will be happy." Annoyed at being derived of the sonic screwdriver it stole, the Minccino charged at Oshawott, whacking the Sea Otter Pokemon across the head with a Pound attack. The Doctor sighed. "Why do they always have to do things the hard way? Oshawott, use Water Gun." Oshawott complied and shot a stream of water from his mouth, drenching the Minccino. Angered that its clean fur was ruined, the Chinchilla Pokemon fired several yellow stars from its mouth in a Swift attack. Eyes widened, the Doctor ran forward, grabbing his Oshawott and shielding the Pokemon with his body. The Time Lord winched as the stars struck his back, tearing more holes in his tweed jacket.

Oshawott looked up at the Doctor in admiration. "Osha!"

The Doctor smiled. "Can you still battle?"

Oshawott nodded enthusiastically. "Wott!"

"Good, use Razor Shell." Jumping out of the Doctor's arms, Oshawott removed the scalchop from his chest, forming a pillar of water at the end of it. He swung the scalchop out the Chinchilla Pokemon, only for it to jump out of the way.

Nathen called out to the Doctor. "Do you need some assistance?"

The Time Lord nodded. "That would be appreciated."

Nathen pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it. "Let's go, Tepig!"

Nathen's Tepig sprang out of its Pokeball, full of energy. "Te." By this time, the Minccino jumped on top of Oshawott and began using Tickle on him. Oshawott roared in laughter, his Attack and Defense lowering.

Nathen cracked his knuckles. "Use Ember to dislodge that Minccino!" Tepig complied, a stream of fire bolts from its snout hitting the distracted Minccino, forcing it off Oshawott's body.

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Tackle." Oshawott jumped at the Chinchilla Pokemon slamming into it head-on. "And now, Razor Shell." Oshawott once again lauched his attack, this time squarely hitting the Minccino with the pillar of water and knocking it out. Breathing a sigh of relief, Oshawott replaced his scalchop on his chest. The Doctor beamed at Oshawott before returning him to his Pokeball. Nathen congratulated his Tepig before likewise returning his Pokemon. "Thanks for your help, Nathen."

The boy smiled. "No sweat, you were in a pickle, and needed it. Besides, that's good experience for Tepig."

Miri rolled her eyes. "All that work just to get back a child's toy? Wow..."

Removing the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, the Doctor looked at Miri with a shocked expression etched onto his face. "Oi! Don't diss the sonic **(3)**!"

Nathen examined the sonic screwdriver in the Doctor's hand. "That thing is more that just a child's toy, isn't it?"

The Doctor tossed the sonic screwdriver in the air, catching it with his left hand. "What makes you say that?"

"Considering the lengths you just went to in order to get it back, and the fact that you scanned around the area to detect wild Pokemon with it, I just have a hunch. I mean, if it was simply a child's toy, you could have gone to the local toy shop to buy another one, right?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Well, I guess you got me there." The Doctor stared at the unconscious Minccino. "I wouldn't recommend capturing this one. Could give us some problems in he long run, especially with that kleptomaniac tendency. Hmmm... It's almost 5 p.m., how about some early dinner?" This was met with approval from the rest of the group.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Outskirts, December 30, 2010, 11 p.m.)_

Nestled in between Nuvema Town to the south and Striaton City to the north was Accumula Town, a rather unassuming settlement that was a minor hub of commerce in itself, if only because most Trainers had to pass through it to reach Nuvema Town in order to meet Professor Juniper. Alternatively, most Trainers also find themselves passing through to reach Striaton City, the location of Unova's first gym for many of its challengers. Night had fallen by the time the group stepped into its boundaries.

Rory looked around uneasily. "Boy, it sure is dark out now."

The Doctor peered at his watch. "Well, it is 11 p.m. Now I did say that we would likely arrive at 9 p.m. if we didn't stop, but obviously we got delayed for two hours to have lunch and dinner, and to chase down that Minccino."

Amy huffed. "And whose fault was it?"

The Doctor sighed. "Alright, alright, I take full responsibility for your sore feet, Amy. How about my clothes? They're slightly shredded, and rather raggedy **(4)**."

"That's your own fault, Doctor. Besides, I think it looks more fasionable now. Too bad the bow tie was unaffected."

"Oi! Bow ties are cool!"

"So says you. Does anyone else share your enthusiasm for them?" The Doctor looked around, only to notice Nathen and Miri shaking their heads slightly. Rory simply averted the Doctor's gaze.

"Believe me, in a few months, everyone will be wearing a bow tie." replied the Doctor in an unusually serious tone.

Amy scoffed. "Yeah, in a _few millenia_."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh look, there's the Pokemon Centre now. Come on, everyone." The group stepped into the building that the Time Lord described, to be greeted by a friendly nurse at the counter in the lobby. She had pink hair in two loops near the bottom of her head, and was wearing a pink dress with a white apron. A small hat with a cross adorned her head.

"Hello, care to give your Pokemon a check-up?"

Nathen stepped forward, handing over his Pokeballs. "Thanks, Nurse Joy." The Doctor followed suit. Amy and Miri did likewise.

Rory looked uncertain. "Er, excuse m-me. D-Do you look at eggs-s as well?"

Nurse Joy beamed. "Of course! Just put it on the counter." Rory retrieved his egg case from his backpack and did as he was told. "I'll be back in a few minutes. It won't take long." A bipedal, blue-eyed, pink-and-cream-colored Pokemon emerged with a cart. The upper section of its face was pink, as were its floppy ears, exempting the tips and curled lower extensions, which were cream-colored. The sides of its chest and arms were also pink, with the rest of its body being cream-colored. On its head was a hat identical to Nurse Joy's.

"Audino."

The Doctor smiled. "Ah, an Audino. Friendly Pokemon, those are, with a knack for healing other Pokemon as well." Nurse Joy loaded the Pokeballs and Rory's egg case on the cart, and the Audino disappeared into a backroom with the nurse.

True to her word, Nurse Joy returned shortly thereafter, followed by her Pokemon. "Your Pokemon are all healed up now. You're welcome to spend the night if you want, we have two extra rooms."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh good, it's typically four to a room, so you lot can all share. I'll just stay in another room by myself then. No need for you young folk to see what I'm up to." The Doctor turned to Nurse Joy. "By the way, do you have a sewing kit?" The nurse handed the Time Lord one. With a chuckle, the Time Lord took two keys from Nurse Joy's offering hand and tossed one to Amy. The Doctor dashed off before anyone else realized what he had actually done due to the speed of his actions.

Nurse Joy cleared her throat. "Okay, here are three more keys for the rest of you, since your friend decided that he would have a room to himself."

Amy looked down at the key the Doctor had tossed her, and finally the Doctor's trickery clicked in her head. Rory, Nathen, and Miri quickly covered their ears. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Amy's Bedroom, December 31, 2010, 12 a.m.)_

In contrast to the other three people in her room, Amy failed to fall asleep. Irritated by this fact, and tossing and turning in her bed for half an hour, the woman climbed out of the bunk bed she shared with Rory. A faint blue glow coming from the window caught her eye. Looking out, Amy saw a human-like figure standing in the Pokemon Center's yard, the blue glow surrounding it. The figure did not move, puzzling Amy as to its intentions, though its stature was close to that of someone she was familar with. Amy huffed. If it was who she thought it was, that person had a lot of explaining to do.

Careful not to wake anyone else, Amy left the room, still in her pink nightie. She quickly made her way outside the building to the yard. Peering around, she noticed that it was pitch-black, the only source of illumination being the blue glow. Approaching the figure a little more closely, Amy noted that its back was turned to her, its right hand outstretched in front of it. Hovering in its outstretched hand was a colbalt-blue sphere of energy. Amy stepped forward, trying to get a closer look at the figure. A task that proved to be near futile, as the shadows of the night prevented her from seeing even the back of her hand. What little illumination only served to highlight how mysterious it was.

Amy continued her slow advance toward the figure, only seeing its basic shape now, but having a good inkling of its identity. "Doctor?" The figure spun around with a start to face the woman, the sphere illuminating both the person's and Amy's faces. Amy gasped, and screams pierced the night.

* * *

Author's notes: Well, that was a fun chapter to write. Updates would likely slow until Pokemon Black and White versions are released in English. Anyways, here's this chapter's glossary. A short one, at four entries.

(1) Metebellis III is a planet that was visited by the Doctor's third, seventh, and eighth incarnations, known for having a vast quantity of blue crystals that can break hypnotic spells and mind control, as well as enhance intelligence and psychic powers. In recent years, the planet's name has been mentioned by a few of the Doctor's former companions, relating its distance from Earth to how far in the universe the Doctor might possibly be.

(2) That was an insult Amy called the Doctor in the episode "Amy's Choice", over his indecision to handle the current crisis at the time.

(3) That line was spoken by the Doctor in the episode "The Hungry Earth" in response to Rory calling the sonic screwdriver "rubbish", because it could not unlock locks made from wood.

(4) When the Doctor first met Amy as a child in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", he had just finished undergoing his regeneration from his tenth incarnation. As he was still in the tattered clothes of his previous incarnation, Amy recognized this and coined the term, "The Raggedy Doctor" for him. The Doctor left soon after in the TARDIS and didn't return until Amy was an adult, by which point everyone in her village was convinced that the Doctor was an imaginary friend Amy had made up.

And OCs are still being accepted. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**


	9. Who is Oppressed?

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Neither situations nor people can be altered by the interference of an outsider. If they are to be altered, that alteration must come from within." _– Anonymous

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 9: Who is Oppressed?**

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, The Doctor's Bathroom, December 31, 2010, 12 a.m.)_

Stepping out from the shower, the Doctor hummed as he casually dressed himself, sliding on an identical pink dress shirt to the one that was tattered by the Minccino. A pair of identical suspendered trousers followed. Feeling very invigorated from his refreshing wash, the Doctor picked up the shirt he had changed out of, examining the holes that the Chinchilla Pokemon ripped into it.

_"Blimey, I hope that I can stitch that up with leaving too much evidence behind." _The Doctor's eyes widened as his ears picked up the noise of a loud explosion coming from outside the building. Still barefoot, the Time Lord dropped his ripped shirt and dashed for the door, failing to notice a puddle of water which condensed on the floor from his shower. Upon his right foot making contact with the puddle, the Doctor slipped forward, his back slamming against the floor.

Groaning in pain from the tingling sensation across his shoulders and back, the Doctor was roused to attention again as he heard another explosion. Grabbing a towel rack attached to the wall for support, the Doctor moved to pull himself to his feet again, unintentionally putting all of his weight on the metal fixture. It was ripped from the wall with two cracks, and the Time Lord immediately found himself with his back on the floor again, the detached towel rack falling and hitting him in the chest.

Panting, the Doctor tossed aside the towel rack and propped himself up on his elbows, grabbing the sink, this time successfully using it as leverage to stand weakly on his feet. He turned on the tap, splashing cold water across his back in a bid to dull the pain. A third explosion sounded, and the Doctor was at the bathroom door in a second, flinging it open to gain access to his bedroom and eventually outside.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, December 31, 2010, 12:10 a.m.)_

Upon hearing Amy mutter the Doctor's name, the figure spun around to face her. With the cobalt-blue sphere of energy hovering in the figure's right hand illuminating its front, Amy could tell that it was wearing a black leather hooded coat, plainly adorned with a silver zipper and silver beaded pull strings for the hood, which formed a semi-circle in the middle. With the hood pulled up, the figure's face was completely obscured. The figure also wore black pants and black gloves, with black knee high silver trimmed boots on its feet. Under the neck, the figure's cloak sported a shield logo, white on the right and black on the left, with a blue letter "P" and a backwards "Z" behind it. From its vaguely muscular physique and broad shoulders, Amy could tell that the figure was male. She gasped as the figure reared his right arm back and pushed it forward, launching the sphere at her. She quickly ducked to the right, and the sphere whizzed past her left ear, slamming into the low hanging branches of a tree, creating a shower of falling branches and leaves.

The figure jumped backwards, another sphere appearing in his left hand. He seemed to have little sense of direction in launching the second sphere, as he fired it straight into the air. The sphere curved around and struck the top of the same tree, causing larger branches to cascade towards the ground. A high-pitched scream of agony broke the seconds long silence that followed the second attack. Turning his attention back to Amy, the figure quickly generated a third cobalt-blue sphere to fire at her, but she jumped backwards, causing it to strike the ground in front of her. Amy spluttered as dirt and sand struck her face, temporarily blinding her. She moved her hands to her visage in a desperate bid to regain some of her vision before the figure struck again. The figure perked his head at the screams he heard, and charged up a fourth sphere, flinging it at Amy. Deciding that she did not have enough time to properly clean her face, Amy rolled on the ground, away from the sphere, which struck the pile of fallen branches near the tree, causing even more screams of pain to sound.

"What's going on out here?" The figure turned tail and ran at the sound of the voice, disappearing into the night as the voice's owner stepped out of the Pokemon Center. Barefoot and hastily dressed in his shirt and suspender pants, the Doctor surveyed the scene, noticing Amy on the ground, attempting to get up, and a few pained moans coming from a large, charred stack of branches. "Amy!" The Time Lord rushed over to the downed woman, shining his sonic screwdriver in her face. "Amy, Amy, talk to me."

Amy tried to focus her vision on the green light emitted from the device, vigorously blinking her eyes to clear them of the irritants launched into her face. "Urgh, Doctor?"

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, it's me. What happened?"

"There was a man outside, in a black cloak, couldn't see his face, he attacked me." Kneeling down to her eye level, the Doctor quickly looked over Amy's body, and failed to notice any injuries, save for her current inability to see.

A few groans of pain could be heard in the distance, but the Doctor still focused his attention on Amy. "Attacked you? How?"

"I-I couldn't sleep, and saw him from the window, just standing there with this strange blue sphere floating in his hand. I thought he was you, and went outside to talk to him. I caught his attention, and he shot the sphere at me. He created three more of those spheres from his hands, and fired them, but they all missed me. Some of them hit that tree over there... I think someone's hurt."

"What happened?" The Doctor turned his head to see Rory run out of the Pokemon Center. He turned to the woman in front of him.

"Rory's here. Go back inside with him and get your face washed up. I'll see who's at the tree. Oh, and Rory?" The Doctor held out his room key for Rory, which the man took. "Mind fetching me my Pokeballs? And get Nurse Joy too." Rory simply nodded as he knelt down in front of Amy. With unsteady steps, he woman took her husband's hand, and allowed him to lead her back into the building. The Doctor stood up and strode over to the mass of fallen branches, noticing a sixteen year old boy underneath them, groaning in pain.

The boy was rather tall at 6'6", with a scar of three scratch marks across his left eye from his eyebrow to near his nose. The boy had pale light-green eyes, and shoulder length silky black hair. He wore a short-sleeved plain gray shirt under a black hoodie with gray dog ears, and a big furry black tail attached to its bottom. The boy also wore gray pants tucked in black mountain hiking boots and behind furry black leg warmers covering his ankles to just below the knees. On his hands were furry black gloves with sharp claws attached to the end of each finger. He had a gray metal dog collar.

The Doctor shined the sonic screwdriver in the boy's face. "Blimey. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, eh mate?" The boy didn't respond. "Hmmm... The quiet sort." The Doctor shrugged. "No matter." The Time Lord picked up one of the braches from the pile, noticing that its end was singed. "Though I would suggest telling me your name, that is unless your windpipe and lungs were crushed by that stack of branches you happened to be passing under.

The boy coughed slightly. "S-Szac Selthez."

The Time Lord twirled the branch in his hand before pocketing it. "Well then, nice to meet you, Szac. You can call me the Doctor." Rory ran out of the Pokemon Center, the Doctor's Pokeballs in hand, followed by Nurse Joy and her Audino, which was pushing a stretcher.

Nurse Joy was frantic. "Oh goodness! We have to get those branches off of him, quickly!"

Taking his Pokeballs from Rory, the Doctor sent out his Snivy. "Vy. Sni."

The Doctor pointed at the branches. "Snivy, use Leaf Tornado to blow those branches away." Snivy jumped up and turned upside down, spinning around to generate a green leaf-filled tornado. Spinning near Szac, Snivy managed to suck the smaller branches into the vortex of air before blowing them outwards and away from the people standing in the vicinity. The Doctor whistled as he examined the Grass Snake Pokemon's handiwork. "Not bad, Snivy. Now for some manual labor. Rory, mind giving me a hand here?"

The man shook his head. "Sure thing, Doctor." Rory grasped one end of a particularly large branch while the Doctor seized the other end, the two of them successfully lifting it off Szac's body. Setting the lifted branch off to the side, the process was repeated until all of the offending branches were moved. Audino wheeled the stretcher over, lowering it to enable the Doctor and Rory to lift up Szac, carefully placing him to rest on the device. Rory stared at the boy, noticing that he had several cuts and bruises across his body. "It's hard to tell from the lighting, but I think he may have sprained his left arm. He might also have some chest lacerations as well. Nothing seems to be broken, but those cuts will need to be cleaned."

Nurse Joy looked at Rory. "Oh, are you a nurse, Rory?"

The man nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Would you mind helping this young man out? I'm afraid that I can't treat humans as well as I can with Pokemon."

"No problem."

Before Rory could leave with Nurse Joy and her Audino, the Doctor turned to face him. "By the way, Rory, did the others wake up from that hullabaloo?"

The man shook his head "Nope, Nathen and Miri are still sleeping like logs."

The Time Lord nodded. "Alright, look after that boy. I have a feeling that he would need to spend the day resting." The Doctor looked at Szac to find that he was now unconscious. "See what I mean?"

Rory sighed. "I hear you, Doctor." The Time Lord was left alone with Snivy as Audino raised the stretcher, wheeling it into the building, followed by Nurse Joy and Rory.

The Grass Snake Pokemon raised her head to look at the Doctor. "Vy. Vy. Vy. Sni?"

The Doctor took out the branch he pocketed. "Yes, Snivy, this was certainly no accident." The Doctor licked the singed end of the branch before sucking on it for a few seconds. "This branch was struck hard by an aura-based attack, which fits with Amy's description of what that man did." The Time Lord gave the branch a closer look. "Hmmm... Ebony. I know it's probably a coincidence, but I can't help but wonder. Plus, Amy said the strange man attacked four times. Four times. Four times. Four times. Four times. But no, it can't be _him_. It just can't be. Not aftert the last time I saw him. Besides, I haven't sensed him at all. But those were aura spheres, and Amy thought that man was me. But wait, he can't use aura. Oh, hold on, then again..." The Doctor shook his head and tossed the branch over his shoulder.

He noticed Snivy's questioning look. "Vy?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just thinking about, well, things."

Snivy knew that the Doctor had important matters on his mind, and decided not to further bother her Trainer, simply nodding. "Sni."

"Shall we be off? I still have those clothes to stitch up, and now I'll have to wash my bare feet."

"Snivy." The Doctor nodded as he recalled Snivy, Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked into the Pokemon Center.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Lobby, December 31, 2010, 9 a.m.)_

"Yawn, morning everyone." muttered the Doctor, as he stepped into the lobby, only to be promptly shushed by Amy. "What?" The woman simply pointed at the large widescreen television mounted on the wall. "Nice to see you're better, Pond." The Doctor's comment only earned him another shush. The Time Lord pouted slightly and took a seat next to Amy and the rest of his companions, noticing that Nathen was absent, while fixing his eyes on the television.

"Five Trainers have recently been reported missing in the Accumula Town area within the past night, amid sightings of a mysterious black cloud shaped like the eye of a hurricane. Anyone with any information is advised to contact their local Officer Jenny. Even a small tip can make a difference."

Miri scrawled some notes in her notepad before capping her pen. "That's not the first time this has happened. Trainers and their Pokemon have been disappearing left and right across Unova since around March of this year. Some homeless people and just your average folk have also been reported missing."

The Doctor cupped his chin. "All those disappearances are connected to the _black cloud_?"

Miri shrugged. "Yes, all of the disappearances have followed some of those sightings, I guess. But not all the sightings of that cloud have missing people in their aftermath. However, the police haven't been able to definitively prove if they are connected at all."

"I see..." The Time Lord bit his lip with a start. "Wait, we just arrived in Accumula Town yesterday, how come we didn't see the cloud?"

"Apparently, it was sighted about an hour or two before our arrival."

"How's your arm, Miri?" The group turned to notice Nathen walk in carrying a tray containing cups of orange juice. Handing the first one to Miri, Nathen proceeded to distribute the rest among the other members of the group.

Miri blushed. "I-It's g-getting better-r. R-Rory said that the bandages could come off in a few days."

Nathen took a seat next to Miri. "Oh, that's good to hear. Speaking of Rory, I heard what happened yesterday. Will that guy, what's his name... Oh that's right, Szac. Will he be alright?" Rory yawned before taking a sip of his juice, having spend much of the morning earlier tending to Szac's wounds.

"He'll need to rest here for the day, maybe for the next few days, but I'm optimistic that he'll make a full recovery. He just has several bruises and lacerations, and the worst he got was a sprain in the left arm, so he should consider himself lucky, seeing how heavy some of those branches that fell on him were."

Nathen nodded. "Maybe I should have gotten coffee for you instead, Rory. Who could have done that?"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know who he was, he was wearing a black cloak that hid his face. But the cloak did have a logo."

"What is it?"

"It's shaped like a shield. Black and one side and white on the other. There's a blue 'P' symbol with a backward facing 'Z' behind it on the shield?" Miri made a quick doodle on her notepad.

"Did it look like this?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Miri shook her head. "What, you know what it means?"

"That's the insignia for Team Plasma, an organization operating in the Unova region. I guess whoever attacked you was with them. I believe they first started sometime in the 1990s. Their self-proclaimed goal is to 'liberate' Pokemon from humans, and make the world more 'black and white'."

The Doctor seemed to be interested. "Well, that's unusual. Of course, there are many who believe that it is wrong for people to capture Pokemon and all, but this is mutually beneficial for both sides. Most Pokemon are of the opinion that they can become stronger and develop long-lasting friendships by bonding with a Trainer. I don't mean to sound preachy, but that's the view many people and Pokemon alike hold. Besides, Unova itself was founded on the basis of the bonds between people and Pokemon. There are Pokemon who like people, you know."

"How profound." muttered Rory. The Doctor smiled.

Miri cleared her throat. "Well, Team Plasma is holding a rally in the town plaza today at 10:30 a.m. Interested?"

Nathen took a sip of his juice. "It won't hurt to hear what these crackpots have to say. Heck, why not go give them a listen and see how idiotic they can get? Their opinions are as crazy and ludicrous as the Black Prince of Unova himself."

Amy narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the Black Prince was famous, or should I say infamous, for being well, _insane_. He was power-trippy and a complete maniac, executing commoners and punishing any servant who disagreed with or opposed him even the slightest. While walking through towns and cities at times, he struck down innocent people where they stood with his claymore. Small wonder that everyone locked themselves in their homes whenever he was out in public. He wouldn't hesitate to eviscerate you for even looking at him the wrong way, and he would even laugh about it. Heck, he would consider it a compliment if anyone called him 'insane'. If he had any redeeming trait, that was his drive for ambition, which allowed him to carry out the one thing he sought, an ideal he called strength, believing that with it in hand, he had the ability to sweep aside and destroy anyone weaker than himself. You would be hard pressed to find anyone stronger than the Black Prince. He may even have had plans to conquer the entire Pokemon world, it's certainly something that would cross his mind."

Amy frowned. "That's horrible. Didn't anyone try to do anything about him? I suppose it's good riddance to him that he's dead now, right?"

The Doctor bit his thumb. _"If only you knew how things really are, Amy."_

Nathen sighed. "I suppose so. No one managed to successfully dispatch him before the castle collapsed. He was always on his guard and was the best fighter in the kingdom. No one was his equal, save for his brother, the White Prince. Although the Black Prince is still very much despised in Unova, statues and monuments are still created of him to this day."

Amy's face belied an expression of incredulity. "What? Why?"

Nathen sighed deeply. "Because it's what the White Prince would have wanted." The Doctor closed his eyes upon hearing Nathen's words, a sad smile gracing his features, which went unnoticed by the others.

Nathen continued. "He still loved his brother, even after what the Black Prince did. He was the Black Prince's equal and opposite, the most benevolent ruler Unova will ever know. He was responsible for shaping much of Unova to the way it is today. While the Black Prince wouldn't give a damn, he cared deeply about his people too, and he even introduced the celebration of Christmas and the New Year at this time. Figured that the commoners needed a break from the hardship of work. The celebrations eventually spread to the rest of the Pokemon world. For how good he is, he would even help the lowest of peasants with their personal problems if he could. He just kept on giving and giving. Like the Black Prince, he sought one thing, the truth that not everyone can grow stronger, and he had the wisdom to see that such people needed to be protected. Contrary to the Black Prince, he believed in Unova peacefully and discreetly coexisting with the rest of the Pokemon world. As much as I want to criticize him for his role in destroying Unova, that wouldn't be completely fair at all."

_"So that's why Unova also celebrates the holidays like us Earthlings. The White Prince introduced it. Still an unusual coincidence."_ thought Amy.

Miri put her notepad away. "Accumula Town has statues of the two princes in its plaza. Maybe Team Plasma's rally being held there is somewhat symbolic. Statues are quite new as well, they were erected in 2007."

Having finished his juice, the Doctor got out of his seat. "Ah yes, I do love Christmas **(1)**. Well then, might as well get out there and stretch our legs for a bit, instead of being cooped up in here, eh?" His companions slowly followed him as he walked out of the Pokemon Center.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Streets, December 31, 2010, 9:30 a.m.)_

"Now, pick a shell and choose wisely. Double or nothing." Three walnut shells were set in a roll on a wooden crate. Seated behind the crate on a white folding chair was Wiley Chase, eyeing the two girls in front of him like candy. A small amount of money was set near the shells. As usual, his Crobat and Ninjask flew nearby, out of sight from the girls. One girl was fifteen years old, 5'5" and had dark brown chest length curly hair and sapphire blue eyes. Slim for her age, she had scars that slashed horizontally across both of her palms, and diagonally on the back of her hands, with additional slash scars at different angles down her spine, starting at the nape of her neck. She also had scars on her shoulders, and one on her left arm above her elbow. To hide her scars, she wore a dark blue short-sleeved shirt and a white sweatshirt that zipped down to her mid-chest with skinny jeans. She wore white gloves with black fingertips and a pair of gray Converse shoes. A Typhlosion stood by her side, eyes narrowed at the suspicious man.

The other girl was seventeen years old, 5'10", and had thick, wavy lavender-colored hair that reached her knees. She had large, round cerise eyes, reminicent of doe eyes. Her cheekbones were high and covered by small freckles. She was olive tanned and slim, with a larger than average bust and butt. Her waist was quite narrow, and her fingers were long and thin, with mid-length nails. She had a tattoo of a Milotic curling around her right bicep, and a Dragonair wrapped around the other. On her right hip was inked a tattoo of a Flareon, and a Jolteon tattoo was on her right ankle. She had pierced ears, and clasped around her right wrist were 21 golden bracelets, each studded with a jewel. She wore a red mini-skirt and a white tank top.

She turned to her companion. "What do you think, Faye?"

Faye shrugged. "I don't know, but I'd be careful, Violet."

A few meters away from the table, the Doctor observed the scene, followed closely behind by his companions. "Oh, I bet she'll be careful. In theory, there's a one-in-three chance in picking the correct shell, but if that guy is doing what I think he's doing, there's now a zero-in-three chance." muttered the Time Lord.

Nathen scratched his head. "What is he doing?"

The Doctor sighed. "Ah, the shell game scam. Three shells, and one pea. The pea is placed under one of the shells, and the order of the shells is shuffled around. The mark is prompted to pick the shell with the pea under it. Of course, the con man will use a sleight of hand to prevent that, sneaking the pea away from the shells. It could very well be in his pocket or up his sleeve. Either way, that pea's not under one of those shells, and therefore, it's impossible for those girls to win. Sure, that Typhlosion over there may act as a deterrent to the con man from cheating them, but his Crobat and Ninjask will probably take care of him if he tries to protect his Trainer, obviously one of the girls."

Nathen curled his fists in anger. "Well, what do we do? We can't just let that scumbag rob them!"

"I have a plan. Amy send out your Lillipup. My, those girls are taking a while to make a decision." Amy complied. "Now what moves does that Pokemon know? You can use your Pokedex to check." Amy scanned the Puppy Pokemon in front of her as the Doctor instructed.

_Lillipup's moves: Tackle, Bite, Take Down, Work Up._

The Doctor crossed his arms and pouted. "Awww... Four moves? My Pokemon only have three each!"

Amy put away her Pokedex and smirked. "Didn't expect you to be such a crybaby, Doctor."

"I'm not a crybaby!" whined the Time Lord. Nathen chuckled while Miri giggled at the Doctor's childish behavior. Rory simply rolled his eyes, arms wrapped protectively around his egg case. The Doctor sighed. "Well, you two, send out a Pokemon each or something." Nathen sent out his Luxray while Miri did the same for her Lopunny. "Now then, await my signal. I'll just wave the sonic screwdriver." With that, the Doctor walked off and turned a corner.

From his seat behind the crate, Wiley began to get rather inpatient with the indecisiveness of the two girls, but he did not let it show on his face. The last thing he needed was the girls beginning to suspect anything. His eyes widened when he heard a voice behind him whisper in his ear.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Wiley spun around, only to be met by the Tackle attack of a Tepig knocking him down, upsetting the contents on the crate. A Snivy leapt forward and hastily swiped the money lying on the ground, before leaping back into the air to land gracefully on the right shoulder of her Trainer. The Doctor stepped forward and casually picked up the three walnut shells with a whistle. "Well, what do you know, no pea underneath any of them, you fraud." The Typhlosion, upon hearing that his Trainer and her companion were almost cheated, quickly charged up a Flamethrower attack, but was subdued by a Confuse Ray from Wiley's Crobat. The man's Ninjask swooped in and slashed at the Typhlosion with an X-Scissor attack from its forelegs. Wiley angrily grabbed the Doctor's Tepig from his chest, and threw him into a wall. The Time Lord's eyes widened. "TEPIG!" He took out his sonic screwdriver and began waving it around. "NOW!"

Amy stepped forward, pointing at the Ninjask. "Lillipup, use Tackle on that Pokemon!" The Puppy Pokemon attempted to slam into the Ninja Pokemon, but the Ninjask glided gracefully out of the way. The Doctor rushed over and scooped up Tepig in his arms.

Nathen cracked his knuckles. "Luxray, use Thuder Fang on that Ninjask!" Teeth crackling with electricity, the Luxray jumped up and bit down on the Ninjask, dealing some damage to it. Wiley gritted his teeth and recalled the Ninja Pokemon.

Miri quickly followed Nathen's example. "Lopie, target Crobat with Dizzy Punch!" The Lopunny smacked the Crobat twice with the ends of her ears, breaking the Bat Pokemon's grasp with Confuse Ray on Faye's Typhlosion.

Wiley got on his feet. "Crobat, Venoshock!" The Bat Pokemon spat several globules of foul purple acid from its mouth, striking several of the Pokemon in the vicinity. The Doctor, anticipating the attack, quickly jumped out of the way, preventing both of his Pokemon from being affected. Wiley stared at his Crobat. "Now then, Haze!" The Crobat spewed black smoke from its mouth, covering itself and its Trainer, and causing everyone else to cough violently as the smoke wrecked havoc on their respiratory systems. When the smoke cleared, Wiley and his Crobat were nowhere in sight.

The Doctor stepped forward after ensuring that his Tepig suffered little injury from his smack against the wall. "Everyone okay?" He received sereval murmurs of agreement for answers. "The bloke probably had his Abra use Teleport to evacuate the area."

Miri stared at the Time Lord. "How did you know that?"

"Ran into him three days ago in a diner at Nuvema Town. He tried to pull one of his cons on me. Biggest mistake he ever made." replied the Doctor smugly.

Miri reached into her backpack and pulled out a newspaper dated December 29, flipping to an article. "So you wouldn't happen to be the 'John Smith' that disrupted a con job by Wiley Chase in Melford's Diner, would you?"

The Doctor straightened his tweed jacket. "Yup, that's me."

Recalling her Lopunny, Miri took out her notepad and began scrawling notes. "This would make a great article to follow up on that one then."

Taking the money Snivy had retrieved, the Doctor recalled his two Pokemon and approached the girls. "Here you go. How's that Typhlosion?"

Faye raised her head from her Pokemon, recalling him, so she could look at the Doctor. "A bit dazed and battered, but he'll be fine. Thanks for the help. I'm Faye, and it's a pleasure to meet you, John."

The Time Lord smiled. "That's good to hear. And please, just call me the Doctor. Everyone calls me the Doctor. I don't know why. I call me the Doctor too. Just don't know why either **(2)**. Nice shoes by the way, once wore a pair myself a few years ago **(3)**." Faye giggled at the Time Lord's introduction.

Violet stepped forward. "I'm Violet by the way."

The others soon introduced themselves as well. "My name's Rory."

"Amy."

"I'm Nathen."

"Miri, nice to meet you all. How did you two get mixed up with him anyways?"

Faye sighed. "We were walking along town and saw him, and just thought it would be easy money, you know? Guess not."

The Doctor tapped on his watch impatiently. "Well, now that we're all nicely introduced and all, are we forgetting something?"

Rory perked up. "The Team Plasma rally?"

"Yeah, look at the time."

Rory stared at his own watch. "Oh, almost 10:20."

"Well, if we run we can get to the plaza in time."

Violet clared her throat. "I know a shortcut. Faye and I were planning on attending that rally."

The Doctor smiled. "Lead the way."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Plaza, December 31, 2010, 10:25 a.m.)_

If there was one attention grabbing feature that Accumula Town's plaza possessed, it was a pair of imposing 26" tall statues in the middle of the plaza. Both were of handsome young men with combed back hair dressed in regal robes. The left statue was colored white, and the man it depicted had a serene expression on his face. His right hand held a claymore across his chest, and his left palm was outstretched in a greeting. The right statue was colored black, a snarl across the face of the man it depicted. His right hand was curled up into a threatening fist, and his left hand clutched a claymore, pointing it straight outwards. Both statues stood on pedestals of their respective colors. A massive arm protruded from each pedestal just in front of the statues. The left statue's pedestal arm held a white olive branch with thirteen leaves and thirteen olives growing from it. The pedestal arm of the right statue held a bundle of thirteen black arrows. Gold leaf was used to highlight the fine details of both statues.

A wooden podium was set up between the two statues. Behind it standing in a line were several people dressed in gray short-sleeved hoodies with gray gloves and gray shoes. They also wore black long-sleeved shirts underneath, as well as black pants. White aprons adorned with the Team Plasma logo on the chest were worn above all the other clothes, held in place with a black belt. A black "X" marked to top of the hoods on the hoodies. Team Plasma flags were erected on either end of the line.

Amy sized up the gathered group of Plasma grunts. "Talk about fashion. What kind of boss would make their employees wear _that_?"

Nathen whistled. "Well, it does resemble the chainmail armor worn by knights who served the two princes."

Amy gestured at the stautes. "Speaking of the princes, that's them right?"

Violet stared forward. "Uh huh! The old rulers of Unova in legend."

The Doctor gazed at the white statue. "Not a bad likeness to the prince, I'd say."

Violet turned to the Time Lord. "How do you know? Have _you_ met him?"

The Doctor frowned at the girl's sarcastic comment. "Uh well, I for one, umm... Yes."

Amy smirked at the Doctor's discomfort, noting the gathered audience. "Oh look, they're starting." The middle of the line of Plasma grunts walked aside in order to allow a man with shoulder length tea-green hair behind them to take the podium. Covering his right eye was a white eyepatch with a red lens. He wore the same castle based robes as he did in meetings with the other six men. "I'm guessing that's the Head Honcho."

Nathen chuckled. "I doubt he'll appreciate that comment." With a combined sigh, Miri and Faye shushed him. The Doctor simply shoved his hands into his pockets, slightly relived that Amy had spared him from answering Violet's question.

The man at the podium cleared his throat before speaking in a deep, booming voice. "People of Accumula Town, I am Ghetsis of Team Plasma. What I have say today concerns the liberation of all Pokemon." Ghetsis surveyed the gathered audience, who began to appear puzzled and bewildered at his introductory sentences. "Humans have lived together with Pokemon peacefully for the past millenia. We depend upon each other, and even consider them to be partners. All would seem to think this is the case, but is it really the truth? Or simply an imaginative fallacy? We humans all entertain that one thought, and one thought only. Has no one ever considered that it might not be all? Trainers all over the world order their Pokemon to do what they please, working them hard under the guise of being partners. What if someone were present to divide them?" The audience now looked even more baffled and confused. "Pokemon are creatures whose sheer potential is limited by us humans. We are beings who believe that they must study a great many things. But what should we humans do to end the enslavement of oppressed Pokemon? We must be the ones to liberate them! And when we do, both humans and Pokémon stand tall, as equals for the first time in history. Consider that which must be done to live in harmony with Pokemon. And with that, I, Ghetsis, conclude my speech. Thank you for your attention."

The Doctor fumbled around in his pockets, eventually pulling out what he was looking for, a wireless microphone. He deftly flicked on the switch. "Excuse me, excuse me!"

Amy sighed. "Oh no..."

The Doctor continued to speak. "Yes, well, erm... Hmmm... Does anyone know WHO I AM? Blimey, my voice is loud on this thing. Hmmm... Testing, testing, one, two, three. Sound pitch. Hello, hello, hello. Ooooo... Nice echo. Now where was I? Oh yes, no one knows me? Well, that's a slight disappointment. No matter. I am the Doctor. Yes, I don't know why I'm called that, but that's not important. What is important is that statue." The people turned to look at the Doctor's finger, pointing at the white statue. Amy buried her face in her hands in embaressment. Rory had a small smile. Nathen looked on in intrest. Miri was busily scribbling in her notepad. Faye had a look of confusion etched across her face. Violet looked dumbfounded, but her expression soon shifted to one of amusement upon hearing the Doctor's next few words.

"Blimey, you'd think he saw a ghost or something. He certainly can't get any whiter than that. But you've got to give him some credit, eh? Who can stare a ghost in the face and still look like this?" The Doctor imitated the statue's facial expression while slightly exaggerating the features, causing the audience to roar in laughter. The Doctor smirked. "Ever the pacifist, that White Prince. Look at his left hand, he's like 'Oh no, a ghost. A scccaaaarrrryyyyy ghost. Halt in the name of the laaaawwwww!' And that olive branch. He must have thought he was facing a vampire instead and brought the branch thinking that it was garlic. But no, he ran into a ghost, and guess what, olives don't work on ghosts!" The audience laughed even louder. Ghetsis narrowed his eyes at the Doctor, and suddenly found himself under the Time Lord's gaze, which became serious.

"But believe it or not, even that's not what's important. No, what is important is that I heard your speech, and I can't help but comment on it. You say that humans have unfairly oppressed Pokemon. But, have you ever considered that Pokemon have a say in the matter? The power isn't in our hands, it lies with the Pokemon. Pokeballs mean nothing to them. Nothing's stopping them from packing their bags and leaving us. You say that we order them to do as we please. Well, if _they_ weren't pleased with us, they would express it themselves through the perenial form of defiance, disobedience. Their feelings on the matter are a powerful force, and if they are displeased with us, that force _cannot and will not_ be held back. But why do they follow us? They do so because they respect and regard us as their loyal friends, people they trust and love. What should humans do to end the enslavement of oppressed Pokemon? Nothing, as we are the oppressed ones, our Pokemon could turn on us in a heartbeat if they so choose. We are under their constant scrutiny, and subject to their views on us. They wield the true power in this relationship. And that, my friends, is why they are far from being oppressed. As long as we respect and love them, they will stay true to us throughout their days. Thank you."

The Doctor immediately found himself receiving a standing ovation from the audience, while Ghetsis angrily glared at him, turning his back on the Time Lord and preparing to leave, throughly furious that the Doctor had upstaged his speech. The Plasma grunts began to dismantle the podium and flags.

The Doctor cleared his throat, realizing that he still was not done. "And one more thing."

Amy crossed the fingers on both her hands, muttering softly to herself. "Not the bow tie. Not the bow tie. Not the bow tie. Not the bow tie..."

The Doctor cleared his throat again. "Bow ties are cool!" Amy groaned and slapped herself on the forehead. Rory appeared to be rather amused at the Time Lord's affirmation of his fashion sense.

Faye rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that'll make for a good closing statement."

The Doctor bowed slightly. "Why, thank you."

Faye narrowed her eyes with a huff. "It's sarcasm, get it?"

"Why, if you had wanted to change your name, Faye, I'm sure you could have come up with something better than 'Sarcasm', don't you think?"

"What?"

"Hey, that's my line **(4)**." Faye was at a lost for words, and found the rest of the group laughing at her.

Nathen whistled. "Liberating Pokemon, Now that's a crazy idea." The audience dispersed, save for one man, who approached the group. Standing at a height of 5'11", he had piercing gray eyes forming part of his polite facial features, and long, chest length tea green hair, which flowed messily down his back. Atop his head, he wore a black baseball cap with a white panel on the front. He also wore a long-sleeved white shirt with a black one underneath, and brown pants with green sneakers. Around his neck was a necklace with a pendent resembling a black planet, circled by a blue ring. Bracelets were on both of his wrists, and a Menger sponge hung from his belt via a white cord.

The man stared at the Doctor. "Your Pokemon, they speak to me. Perhaps you cannot hear them? That is a real pity. My name is N. I see that you have a few Pokemon imprisoned in Pokeballs. I am a Trainer as well, but I am always doubting. I ask myself if I am making my Pokémon happy. The Doctor, was it? Let me hear more of your Pokemon's voices!" The man reached for the only Pokeball on his belt.

The Time Lord turned off his microphone and pocketed it. "A challenge is it? Very well, I will take you on." Out of sight and observing the exchange was a green orb-shaped gel creature. Within its outer gel-like shell was a small, pale-green blob-shaped inner body, with dot-like dark eyes and a red diamond-shaped mouth. It also had a yellow horn-like protrusion on the left side of its inner body. The creature stared for a few more seconds before floating away.

* * *

Author's notes: A very fun chapter to write, I must admit. Ghetsis and N's lines were adapted from the games, and I had a friend who knew Japanese give me a translation. They may be replaced with proper English lines if I deem those to be better. As always, here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) The Doctor adores Christmas, and it is a holiday he celebrates with vigour.

(2) This is a reference to a line in the episode "The Lodger", when the Doctor is trying to explain why he is called that to a man he is renting a bedroom from.

(3) The Doctor's tenth incarnation wore a pair of Converse shoes as part of his outfit.

(4) The Doctor's tenth incarnation frequently deadpanned "What." when taken by surprise or when he is unable to explain something unbelievable.

I'm still accepting OCs, if anyone wants to send them in. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Wiley Chase belongs to Indigo Hare.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Joker'sTwinBro-FlameOfRecca's.**

**Faye Lillian Anderson belongs to Prism Fire.**

**Violet Kinomoto belongs to Miss Kiko.**


	10. The Thrill of the Battle

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill." _– Sun Tzu

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 10: The Thrill of the Battle**

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Plaza, December 31, 2010, 11 a.m.)_

Staring casually at the man who had just challenged him to a battle, the Doctor's left hand creeped towards his Pokeball belt in anticipation. "So N, what shall it be?"

N straightened his baseball cap. "A simple one-on-one battle shall suffice."

The Doctor shrugged. "Fine by me then."

Amy crossed her arms. "What, so he's just accepting a challenge from a random stranger now?"

Miri turned to face the woman. "Well, that's how most Trainers find their opponents. They could just meet and challenge each other out of the blue like that. It's the passion for the battle that draws such people to each other. Even though he just started his time as a Trainer, I can tell that the Doctor appears to be someone with a lot of potential. This should prove to be interesting."

N reached for his sole Pokeball. "Purrloin, come forth!" N's Pokeball opened and out came a purple-colored green-eyed feline creature. The lower part of its face, neck, shoulders, back, and hind paws were white. It also had long violet markings above its eyes, and a slightly curved tail, which looked vaguely scythe-like. Rory scanned the creature with his Pokedex.

_Purrloin, the Devious Pokemon. It plays with and steals people's belongings. Even the people it steals from unconsciously forgive it due to its charming behavior. _Rory put away his Pokedex, muttering softly to his wife to prevent the others from hearing him, not wanting to unintentionally offend them. "That explains the name. Still, it sounds like a bad pun."

Amy looked keenly at the Devious Pokemon. "Charming, it says. I can see that."

The Doctor surveyed the Purrloin calmly and carefully. "A Purrloin. Interesting choice. Here's mine then." Unclipping a Pokeball from his belt, the Doctor sent out his Snivy.

N examined the Grass Snake Pokemon. "I can hear your Pokemon speak, but what is its motivation for being with you? I guess I'll find out shortly. Purrloin, use Scratch if you please." Claws drawn, the Devious Pokemon charged towards the Grass Snake Pokemon, before leaping up to scratch her.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Dodge it!" Snivy smirked and ran to meet N's Purrloin, before getting on her back and sliding on the ground underneath the Devious Pokemon. When she was neatly aligned with Purrloin's underside, the Doctor saw his opportunity. "And now, Vine Whip." Two vines emerged from Snivy's shoulders, and she began lashing out at Purrloin with them, forcing the Devious Pokemon to stop its attack due to the vines smacking its underside. A final smack from Snivy sent Purrloin flying for a few meters, as the Devious Pokemon landed in a heap to the Grass Snake Pokemon's right.

N retained his calm demenor. "Purrloin, please use Night Slash." The Devious Pokemon's claws gained a light purple glow as it slashed Snivy across the stomach with them. The Grass Snake Pokemon was forced to her knees from the force of the attack, her eyes tightly closed in pain.

Rory looked on in concern. "Snivy looks like she really felt that."

Nathen nodded. "Indeed. Night Slash has an incresed chance of dealing a critical hit to the opponent. That is, it does double the damage it otherwise would have done. Looks like this is one of those times."

The Doctor bit his lip. "Come on, Snivy, Leaf Tornado!" The Grass Snake Pokemon opened her eyes and turned herself upside-down, spinning to generate her leaf-filled tornado. Taking advantage of Purrloin's close proximity to her, Snivy easily captured the Devious Pokemon in her attack. She spun for a few seconds before slamming the tornado and its unwilling occupant into the ground.

N looked impressed. "Recovering after a strike like that... You've done well. Purrloin, use Scratch." The Devious Pokemon charged at Snivy and knocked her to the ground, using its claws to scratch away at various points of her body.

The Doctor's expression remained calm. "Snivy, Tackle."

But N was fast as well. "Now Purrloin, kindly use Sucker Punch." As the Grass Snake Pokemon prepared to slam a full body tackle on her opponent, Purrloin sported a slight purple glow and lunged at Snivy, colliding with her and forcing her to stop her attack.

Amy was slightly puzzled. "What just happened?"

Nathen looked slightly impressed at N's retaliatory strike. "Devious, but that's the nature of Sucker Punch. It can only be used when the opponent is preparing an attack, which the user takes advantage of to strike quickly."

The Doctor looked impressed as well. "Good move. Now counter with Leaf Tornado." Snivy nodded and caught Purrloin in her attack once again. "And while you're still spinning Snivy, use Vine Whip on Purrloin." The Grass Snake Pokemon complied, sending out her vines and whipping the trapped Purrloin with them. Unable to move or escape from the Leaf Tornado, the Devious Pokemon was forced to take the brunt of both attacks.

N briefly fiddled with his Menger sponge. "More! Let me hear more from your Pokemon!" Snivy slammed her tornado into the ground, ejecting Purrloin. "Purrloin, use Night Slash, if you please." Purrloin's claws once again gained a light purple glow as it attempted to strike Snivy.

The Doctor did not intend on letting the attack connect. "Dodge it, Snivy!" The Grass Snake Pokemon sidestepped her opponent, causing the Devious Pokemon to run off harmlessly to her left. "Tackle Purrloin from behind." Snivy ran at Purrloin, successfully hitting it. "Follow it up with Vine Whip!"

N sported a small smile. "You Pokemon speaks to me of determination. Purrloin, please dodge that attack." The Devious Pokemon leapt away from the Grass Snake Pokemon. "And now, Night Slash again." A swipe from Purrloin's light purple glowing claws knocked Snivy backwards for a few meters. "Next, please use Scratch."

The Doctor had a cunning look on his visage. "Snivy, use Leaf Tornado." The Grass Snake Pokemon smirked and flipped herself upside-down, creating a leaf-filled tornado just as Purrloin was about to reach and attack her. The Devious Pokemon gasped as it was forcefully sucked into the Leaf Tornado. "Fling it!" Instead of slamming the tornado into the ground, Snivy spun sharply to her left and dispersed the attack, causing the Purrloin inside to be flung for several meters towards the Black Prince's statue. The Devious Pokemon shrieked in pain as it was slammed into the statue's hard pedestal, before falling to the ground, its eyes swirly.

"Looks like that was it for Purrloin." muttered Miri, as she took down some quick notes on the battle. "Snivy was in good form."

Nathen nodded. "Sure she was. But it looks like Snivy could use a nice long rest. She looks very exhausted." True to Nathen's words, Snivy was panting hard. The Doctor walked over to his Pokemon and scooped her up in his arms, giving her a small smile which she returned. Taking out her Pokeball, he silently recalled Snivy.

N held out a Pokeball towards the fainted Purrloin, who was now lying unconscious at the foot of the Black Prince's statue. "You have done well, Purrloin. Rest."

After N recalled his Pokemon, he turned to the Doctor. "As they are restrained and imprisoned in Pokeballs... Like this, Pokemon can never be perfect creatures and truly free... For the sake of my friends, the Pokemon, the world must be changed." Without another word, and with a final glance towards the Doctor and the two statues in the plaza, N turned his back on the group and walked away.

The Doctor looked on in contemplation. "His bond with that Purrloin is curious and interesting indeed."

Amy stared at N's retreating back. "What a weirdo. I'm guessing he must be one of those strange radicals. Like those Team Plasma people."

Miri shrugged. "That's certainly a viewpoint that not many people have. Those that do are usually quite passionate about it. Though I have to admit, he was a bit odd."

Amy listened briefly before her attention was captured by the Doctor, who had wandered off. "N's not the only weirdo we know... Doctor? What in God's name are you doing?" The rest of the group turned to follow Amy's gaze, only to see that the Doctor had made his way over to the White Prince's statue.

The Time Lord stuck out his tounge and began giving the statue's pedestal several licks, to the disgust of those watching him. After a minute of licking, the Doctor pulled back from the statue with disgust of his own evident on his face. "Just testing a theory, Pond. Awww... Real Pokemon ivory? Why, oh why, did they have to use ivory to make the statue?"

Violet looked at the Doctor. "Don't you know? Ivory is the symbol of the White Prince. If the whole statue is made of it like you said, that must have cost a lot of money. Nice battle by the way."

The Doctor pouted slightly. "Thanks, but did they really have to use Pokemon ivory? Those Pokemon had better not be killed for their ivory."

Nathen narrowed his eyes. "I agree, that had better not be the case."

Miri crossed her arms. "If it was, that would be a big scandal. The public image of the town's government would go down the drain. Especially since the White Prince was very fond of Pokemon."

Rory was curious. "So if that was the case, why did the White Prince pick ivory as a symbol?"

Violet had an answer. "He didn't, the royal council had to find something to adorn his personal effects with, and ivory was the purest white substance they could find. Back in those days, Pokemon were actually slaughtered for their ivory. It took a couple of years before the White Prince found out just what the white substance adorning his belongings were. It was said that when he did, his anger was terrible to behold. It was apparently the only recorded time that his anger reached the level that the Black Prince's routinely did."

Faye winched. "Yikes, if such a benign man was driven to be so angry, that must have been horrifying to witness."

"It was. I hear that the White Prince wrecked a good number of the castle's rooms in his rage."

"So, were any changes made about the usage of ivory?"

"There wasn't any time to do so. Both princes perished shortly after that incident."

The Doctor frowned slightly upon hearing this, though it went unnoticed. Regaining his composure, he pointed at the White Prince's statue. "And what about the statue?"

Miri shrugged. "From what I heard, the Pokemon whose ivory were used to sculpt it died of natural causes. From what I've heard anyways. Well, it had to be ivory to honor the White Prince's memory. I'm sure he would have still been reluctant for any ivory to have been used however."

The Doctor appeared to be slightly consoled by Miri's words. "Well, that's a compromise, I suppose..."

"By the way, you could tell that the statue was made of ivory by _licking_ it. How did you do that?"

The Doctor suddenly found himself at a loss for words. "Er, well, consider it an ability of sorts."

Miri took out her notepad. "Okay then, what sort of ivory was it?"

The Doctor swirled his tounge around in his mouth a few times. "A few varieties. Tusks from Piloswine, Walrein, Mamoswine, Axew, Fraxure, and Haxorus, teeth from Waimer, Wailord, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Sandile, Krokorok, and Krookodile..." The Time Lord fell silent after that, and the rest of the group, except for Rory and Amy gave him odd looks.

Rory decided to break the awkward tension. "So, if ivory was the White Prince's symbol, what was the Black Prince's?"

The Doctor stared at the other statue in the plaza. "Well, let's find out then." Before anyone else could respond, the Doctor walked towards the Black Prince's statue and licked its pedestal several times. "Hmmm... Ebony."

Violet nodded. "That's to be expected. Ebony is the Black Prince's symbol. The statue was probably treated with some sealant to protect it from the elements, especially rain."

Upon hearing this, The Doctor spat on the ground. "So that's was what that disgusting aftertaste was. Urgh."

Amy snickered. "No one told you to lick it, Doctor."

The Time Lord shrugged. "Well, had to try..."

Violet gazed at both statues. "Almost everything at the castle was shared by the two princes, so it wasn't uncommon to see items from there that were half ivory and half ebony."

"That's rather unusual."

"It is. The Nacrene Museum in Nacrene City has several such items on display if you're interested."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Well, we'll have to make it a point to look at them when we get there. Now then, if I'm not mistaken, we really should be off to the Battle Club." The Doctor took a step forward, but failed to notice the edge of the black pedestal. The Time Lord yelped as he tripped over it, falling flat on his face.

Nathen looked at his fallen form. "Are you okay, Doctor?"

Amy chuckled. "Of course he's okay, he's too thick-headed to be injured like that."

The Doctor looked up at Amy. "I'll take that as a compliment, Pond."

"How graceful..." muttered Faye.

The Doctor scrambled to his feet and began to walk away without turning back to face his companions. "Why thank you, Sarcasm."

"Hey!" Faye's face went red as the others laughed at the Doctor's joke. "That joke's old!"

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, December 31, 2010, 12 p.m.)_

After a short walk, the Doctor soon found himself staring at a large building adorned with a battlefield symbol crossed with a Pokeball above the door. He turned around as his companions slowly approached him. "Well, this looks like the place."

Stepping inside, the group was immediately greeted by a large, well-built man who had short black hair and moustache. He was dressed in dark blue loose-fitting training robes and black slippers, with armbands and a belt around his robes. "Welcome to the Pokemon Battle Club. I'm the Battle Manager, Don George. How my I help you?"

"I heard that anyone can battle freely here. I want to prepare for a gym battle." said the Doctor.

"Yes, of course. If this is your first time here, might I ask that you register yourselves in the Battle Club system?" Don George gestured to several computers in the distant corner of the lobby.

"That won't be a problem." The group strode over to the machines, and the Doctor and Amy were the first to finish registering themselves.

Amy looked slyly at the Doctor. "Say, Doctor, since we're here, how about you and I have a battle?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Really? I thought you might have wanted to battle Rory instead."

"Rory's only Pokemon right now is an egg, remember?"

"Oh that's right, no battling for him until that egg hatches, I guess."

Rory looked slightly offended, while the Doctor and Amy laughed. "Hey!"

Amy simply chuckled at her husband. "Oh don't worry, we're just teasing you."

The Doctor looked at his other companions. "Well, I suppose I can have a quick battle with you, Amy. But the others still need to register."

"Don't worry about us, you just go ahead first. I hear the other battlefields are occupied. Violet and Faye want to battle each other, so I think Miri and I will watch them. Rory's going to watch your battle, isn't he?"

The nurse nodded. "That seems to be the plan."

"Good."

Rory walked off while Faye looked at Violet. "It's been a while since we battled each other. Five-on-five?"

Violet nodded. "Sounds good, Faye."

The Doctor looked at a small screen suspended from the ceiling. "Looks like Battlefield 1 is vacant. I'll just have a quick one-on-one battle against Amy then."

Rory returned with Don George. "Don Geroge has generously offered to referee you battle against Amy, Doctor."

The Time Lord nodded. "Alright then, I suppose we'll see you later." The Doctor was answered with several murmurs of affirmation as he entered Battlefield 1 with Rory, Amy, and Don George.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, Battlefield 1, December 31, 2010, 12:15 p.m.)_

"You ready, Pond?"

Amy crossed her arms and huffed at the Doctor's question. On the sidelines, Rory watched his two companions patiently, setting his egg case to his left. "Do you really need to ask?"

Don George took his place at the middle of the battlefield's outer egde. "The Pokemon battle between the Doctor... Wait, that's your name?" The Time Lord appeared to be a tad irritated, waving his right hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Yes, just call me that. Carry on."

Don George looked slightly flustered. "Oh, well then... The Pokemon battle between the Doctor and Amy Pond will now commence! Each side will use one Pokemon each, and the battle is over when one of those Pokemon is unable to battle. Now, begin!"

Amy took her sole Pokeball and tossed it. "Alright, now go! Lillipup!"

The Doctor silently reached for Tepig's Pokeball, and sent out the Fire Pig Pokemon without a word. "You may have the first move, Pond."

"What, you don't think I'm capable for a first timer, so you let me have a quick freebie? I will make you eat those words, Doctor. Lillipup, Bite." The Puppy Pokemon charged at Tepig, baring its fangs in preparation for the attack.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Dodge it!" Tepig attempted to obey the order, and began to flee from Lillipup, but the Puppy Pokemon was faster, embedding its fangs in Tepig's side, causing him to shriek in pain. "Shake him off with Flame Charge!" Tepig nodded and immediately cloaked himself in fire, forcing Lillipup to release his hold, trying to shake off the damage he sustained from Tepig's flames. "While he's distracted, Ember!" Tepig reared his head back, blowing out several fire bolts from his snout, all with Lillipup's name on them.

Amy bit her lip. "Dodge, and use Tackle, quickly!" Lillipup agilely leapt away from almost all of the fire bolts, but failed to notice one advancing on him from behind. It successfully struck him, knocking him to the floor.

The Doctor craned his neck. "Ember again, Tepig." A new stream of fire bolts now headed straight for Lillipup.

Amy frowned. _"The Doctor knows that Lillipup's moves involve close contact, so he's having Tepig keep his distance from Lillipup. Guess I'll have to bring the fight to him." _"Dodge and use Work Up, Lillipup." The Puppy Pokemon leapt above the Ember attack, causing it to pass harmlessly underneath. A crimson aura then surrounded Lillipup, boosting his Attack and Special Attack stats. "Take Down." Lillipup sped towards Tepig, slamming hard into the Fire Pig Pokemon and knocking him several meters away. Deftly landing on the battlefield, Lillipup shook off the recoil damage he received from using Take Down. "Before Tepig recovers, use Tackle!" Lillipup obediently charged at Tepig, initiating his attack.

The Doctor's facial expression did not change. "You want to play it that way, eh Pond? Flame Charge, Tepig." The distinctive red fire cloak of Flame Charge engulfed Tepig as he ran to met his opponent head-on.

Amy smirked. "Pull out of the attack and run to behind Tepig, then use Work Up."

"What." deadpanned the Doctor. Tepig skidded to a halt as he realized that Lillipup was no longer in front of him. He turned his head left and right in a desperate bid to locate the Puppy Pokemon again. "Behind you, Tepig!" Tepig followed his Trainer's instructions, and saw Lillipup right in his face, a crimson aura surrounding the Puppy Pokemon.

Amy crossed her arms with a smug expression. "You're mine. Take Down." Lillipup slammed into Tepig, causing the Fire Pig Pokemon to scream in pain. "Now, Tackle and Bite." Lillipup bared his fangs and hit Tepig with Tackle. Tepig skidded down the battlefield from the attack, and Lillipup leapt over the Fire Pig Pokemon, curving his body to ensure that he was facing his opponent when he landed in front of Tepig. As predicted, Tepig continued to skid, right into Lillipup's waiting fangs. Lillipup reared his head back and bit hard into Tepig's side. The Fire Pig Pokemon's eyes widened before they became swirly.

Don George raised his arm in Amy's direction. "Tepig is unable to battle, and the winners are Amy Pond and Lillipup!"

Quietly recalling his fainted Tepig, the Doctor walked over to the sidelines and took a seat next to Rory, crossing his arms and pouting. "I should have used Snivy in that battle instead. That would likely have clinched victory for me."

Casting occasional glances at the egg case next to him, Rory chuckled at the Doctor's slight tendency of being a sore loser. "If I recall correctly, Doctor, Snivy was rather exhausted after her earlier battle against that N guy's Purrloin. What kind of person names his child 'N' anyways? Well, back on track, if you had used her against Amy's Lillipup, I think you would have lost even more badly."

The Time Lord frowned. "Oi! Where's your faith in me?"

Rory chuckled again and shook his head slightly in amusement. "Sorry, but Amy comes first, mate."

The Doctor continued to pout as Amy was still on the battlefield, congratulating and playing with her Lillipup, but it soon shifted to a small smile. "Amy's bonding well with that little Pokemon, despite only meeting him three days ago."

Rory nodded. "Indeed. Oh look, Violet and Faye's battle is about to begin, on HD television." The Doctor turned his head in the direction of the widescreen television mounted to the wall on the side of the room. Amy was quickly called over to watch the action so the battlefield could be vacated for the next pair of Trainers wishing to battle on it.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, Battlefield 2, December 31, 2010, 12:30 p.m.)_

With the battlefield prepped for use, Violet and Faye took their places on opposite sides. Nathen and Miri sat in the sidelines. The journalist had her notepad out, prepared to take down information on the two girls' battling styles.

Faye reached for a Pokeball, staring at Violet. "Don't think that I'll go easy on you just because we're friends, Violet."

Violet smiled at Faye's remark. "I'd be disappointed if you did."

A Battle Club employee took his spot at the sidelines on the middle of the battlefield to referee the match, as the scoreboard flicked on, showing pictures of the two girls with five blank spots surrounding each in a semi-circle. "The Pokemon battle between Violet Kinomoto and Faye Anderson will now commence! Both sides will use five Pokemon each, and may freely make substitutions. The match is over when all the Pokemon of one side are unable to battle. Now, begin!"

Violet took her first Pokeball in hand. "Do it, Blaze!" A Flareon emerged from Violet's Pokeball.

Faye responded in turn. "Let's show 'em what we got, Jayfeather!" Faye's Pokeball opened to reveal a Pigeot. Blaze and Jayfeather's images appeared on the scoreboard near their respective Trainers' pictures.

Violet: 5

Faye: 5

"You can start, Faye." offered Violet.

Faye nodded. "Thanks, now Jayfeather, get in there with Aerial Ace!" White streaks of light surrounded the Pigeot's body as the Bird Pokemon approached his opponent.

Nathen stared intently at the Flareon who was on the receiving end of the attack. "There's no way that Flareon can dodge that. Wonder how Violet would respond."

Violet stared calmly on before deciding to order Blaze to react. "Blaze, use Flamethrower." The Flareon opened her mouth and shot a stream of red-orange fire at the approaching Pigeot. Unfazed, the Bird Pokemon flew through the fire and continued with his attack, successfully striking Blaze with his Aerial Ace.

Faye stared on as the Flareon was knocked on her back. "Steel Wing." Jayfeather's wings glowed silver as he whacked the Flareon across the stomach twice with them. "Now get back from Blaze." Jayfeather complied as he sailed backwards in the air from the Flareon, in case she decided to retaliate with an attack at close range.

Violet narrowed her eyes. "Blaze, use Fire Blast." The Flareon swiftly got back on her feet, raised her head, and opened her mouth, firing red flames which shaped themselves into the kanji for big, 大. The attack was headed fast for Jayfeather.

"Dodge it." ordered Faye. Jayfeather flew to his right, allowing the attack to move harmlessly past his right let out a small smile, before holding out Jayfeather's Pokeball and recalling the Bird Pokemon. The Pigeot's image on the scoreboard turned gray to signify his status of having appeared in the battle but currently being recalled.

Violet's eyes widened slightly. "A substitution?"

Faye stored her Pigeot's Pokeball and retrieved another from her belt, tossing it. "Your turn, Jetstream." The Pokeball opened, releasing a Buizel from its confines, as the scoreboard was updated to feature an image of Faye's second used Pokemon in the battle.

Violet almost considered making a substitution of her own, since it was obvious that her friend was aiming for a type advantage in this match-up. Noticing the confidence radiating from her Flareon, she quickly decided against it and ordered an attack from Blaze. "Flamethrower, Blaze." The Flareon shot a stream of red-orange fire at her new opponent.

"Dodge, Jetstream." The Buizel sidestepped the attack, causing it to whizz past his left. "Now, use Water Gun!" The Buizel spat out a stream of water at the Flareon which hit is target, causing her to winch from her weakness to water-type moves.

Nathen looked on. "A type advantageous move. Blaze certainly felt that."

Faye crossed her arms. "Follow it up with Quick Attack!" The Buizel lunged at his opponent at a blindingly fast speed.

Violet's eyes widened. "Blaze, hang in there! Use Overheat!" The Flareon shook off the damage she sustained and shot a large stream of white fire with a red-orange flame spiraling around it from her mouth straight at Jetstream.

Faye smirked. "Jetstream, use your speed to dodge and then keep up the attack." The Buizel nimbly dodged the Overheat attack, before running towards Blaze's right flank. Putting his weight behind the Quick Attack, Jetsteam struck Blaze hard. "Before Blaze recovers, quick, use Water Gun." Jetstream nodded and fired another stream of water from his mouth at point-blank range, drenching Blaze. "And now, Bite!" Jetstream bared his fangs and bit hard into Blaze's side

"Faye isn't letting up with those attacks. She's got the momentum going." observed Nathen.

The realization hit Violet that her Flareon was unlikely to survive for long. "Blaze, Giga Impact!"

Faye gulped. "Get out of the way, Jetstream." Orange streaks of energy surrounded Blaze's body as purple energy enveloped the Flareon. Jetstream quickly did as he was told, however, he failed to completely evade the attack, as the sides of it grazed him. Fatigued from the damage she took, Blaze's attack took a sharp incline towards the ground, and she collided into the battlefield, wearing a deep black rut into it.

Violet gritted her teeth. "Blaze!"

Faye quickly capitalized on the opportunity. "While Blaze can't move from Giga Impact, use Water Gun!" The Buizel fired off a stream of water from his mouth at the immobile Flareon's back as the energy from Giga Impact dispersed. Blaze shrieked as Jetstream's attack hit her, then fell silent as her eyes went swirly.

The referee turned to look at the unconscious Flareon. "Flareon is unable to battle, and the winner is Buizel." Blaze's image on the scoreboard shifted to a black outline with a gray background.

Violet: 4

Faye: 5

"A good early lead for Faye." commented Miri as she scribbled down notes. "Wonder what Violet has up her sleeve next?"

Faye held out her Buizel's Pokeball, recalling the Sea Weasel Pokemon, as his image turned gray on the scoreboard. "You did well, Jetstream, rest for now."

Violet did likewise with her Flareon. "Thanks for all your help, Blaze." Violet took out another Pokeball. "Prepare yourself, Demon." She threw the Pokeball and out came a Lucario.

Faye made a quick decision on her next Pokemon choice, tossing a Pokeball. "You're on, Kallik." An Eevee emerged from the Pokeball and the scoreboard was updated to include images of the Lucario and Eevee. "Let's start things off with Dig." The Eevee quickly dug a hole and disappeared underground.

"Try and feel the ground for Kallik, Demon. Make sure she doesn't sneak up on you." The Lucario nodded and sat crossed-legged on the battlefield in a meditative posture. Soon enough, his eyes widened, and he jumped off the ground, in time for the Kallik to emerge at the spot he occupied seconds ago.

"Get back in the ground with Dig, Kallik." ordered Faye. The Eevee complied, diving back into the hole she exited from. The Lucario began turning his head left and right in an attempt to determine Kallik's location. Caught off-guard, he was not fast enough to dodge the Eevee's next attempt to strike him with Dig, as the ground beneath his feet shifted with Kallik's exit from it, causing him to stumble over backwards and fall on his back from the super effective ground-type move. "And now, Dig again, Kallik."The Eevee nodded and shot back into the hole she just created.

Nathen leaned forward from his seat. "Kallik's giving Demon some real problems out there with her constant disappearing act into the ground."

Violet was frantic. "Get up, Demon!" Before the Lucario cold do so, Kallik shot out from the ground right where the middle of his back was, causing Demon to flop over on his front.

Violet held out Demon's Pokeball. "Return, Demon."

Nathen nodded as Demon was recalled, his image on he scoreboard turning gray. "Smart move. Who knows how much more damage that Lucario might have taken if he kept battling under these circumstances?"

Violet held another Pokeball in her hand, sending out the Pokemon inside. "You're up, Bubbles!" The Pokeball opened to reveal a Milotic, whose image appeared on Violet's side of the scoreboard. "Use Ice Beam."

"Strike back with Shadow Ball." replied Faye." The Milotic fired multiple light blue beams from her mouth while the Eevee retaliated with a black and purple ball shot from her own mouth. The two attacks collided but the Ice Beam overwhelmed the Shadow Ball and landed a clean hit on Kallik.

Violet knew she had to act fast. "Hydro Pump!" A large jet of water was fired from the Milotic's mouth straight at Kallik, and it made its mark. The water flowed away from its point of impact at the Eevee's body to reveal that the Evolution Pokemon was knocked out.

The referee's judgment was swift. "Eevee is unable to battle, and the winner is Milotic."

Miri nibbled on her pen as Kallik's image shifted to a black outline on the scoreboard. "I think that Eevee could use more training."

Nathen nodded in agreement. "You got that right."

Violet: 4

Faye: 4

"I'll stick with Bubbles, Faye." said Violet.

Faye recalled her Eevee. "Thanks for all you've done, Kallik." She took another Pokeball, tossing it with a flick of her wrist. "Fine by me, Let's try for another round, Jayfeather!" Faye's Pigeot was sent out onto the field again, and his scoreboard image became fully colored to reflect his status as Faye's current battling Pokemon. "And now, let's start with Aerial Ace." Jayfeather seemed to disappear as fading white streaks were seen where the Bird Pokemon flew seconds ago. The next thing Bubbles knew, Jayfeather smacked into her neck from behind.

Violet's mouth dropped open as her Milotic faltered slightly. "Bubbles! Quick, Ice Beam!" The Milotic complied by opening her mouth and firing her attack at the airborne Pigeot, neatly striking him. Jayfeather shrieked in pain from the super effective attack before dropping towards the ground.

Faye was frantic. "Quckly, snap out of it and soar, Jayfeather!" The Pigeot shook his head for a second, before pulling out of his downward drop, and regaining some of his former altitude, evidently weakened by the Ice Beam.

Violet stared on. "Use Ice Beam again, Bubbles."

Faye narrowed her eyes. "Dodge it!" The light blue beams from the Milotic's mouth were nimbly avoided by the Pigeot, who flew above them. "Now, fly around the Ice Beam and use Brave Bird!" Jayfeather tucked in his wings and began quickly spiraling around the Ice Beam attack toward Bubbles, red flames engulfing his body. He opened his wings, and the flames were replaced by a blue aura.

Miri scrawled notes on her notepad. "There's no way of completely dodging that Ice Beam for Jayfeather if he's going to spin around it like that to approach Bubbles with Brave Bird. He's certainly going to take some damage."

"Bubbles, dodge!" Violet ordered. The Milotic attempted to evade the attack, but her large frame prevented her from moving quickly enough, and the Pidgeot slammed into her neck before flying away, winching.

"Brave Bird is definitely a risky move to use, since you take damage equal to half of the damage you just inflicted on your opponent with it." said Nathen.

Violet looked at the flying Pigeot. "Bubbles, use Ice Beam!" Bubbles shot several light blue beams at Jayfeather.

Faye's eyes widened. "This might be it for Jayfeather. Ok then, use Brave Bird again!" Disregarding the fact that an Ice Beam was headed straight for him, Jayfeather tucked in his wings and shot towards Bubbles like a missle, his body alight with red flames. He flew through the Ice Beam and opened his wings, a blue aura replacing the flames. Roughly slamming into the Milotic with his attack, Jayfeather flopped to the ground, his eyes swirly.

The referee looked at the fainted Bird Pokemon. "Pigeot is unable to battle, and the winner is Milotic." Jayfeather's scoreboard image became a black outline with a gray background.

Nathen crossed his arms. "Looks like Jayfeather there knocked himself out due to the the recoil damage from Brave Bird, in addition to the super effective damage from the Ice Beam he flew through."

Violet: 4

Faye: 3

"Now Violet has the lead. I wonder how Faye plans on responding to that." commented Miri.

Faye reached for one of her Pokeballs. "You're up, Nayka!" Tossing the Pokeball, Faye sent out an Ampharos, whose image then appeared on her side of the scoreboard.

Violet responded quickly. "Bubbles, use Hydro Pump!" A large jet of water was shot from the Milotic's mouth at the Ampharos.

Faye was quick on her feet."Nayka, dodge and use Shock Wave." The Ampharos jumped away from the Hydro Pump aimed at her and held out her arms, firing a bolt of blue electricity at Bubbles. It made its mark, and the Milotic screamed in pain.

Nathen whistled. "There's no way to dodge that Shock Wave. That's got to be devastating for Bubbles."

Faye quickly decied to capitalize on the opportunity. "Nayka, Thunder!" The Ampharos glowed yellow, and released a massive blast of electricity from her body, which struck the Milotic, causing the Tender Pokemon to scream in pain again from taking two super effective moves in rapid succession, before her head hit the ground, her eyes swirly.

The referee looked on. "Milotic is unable to battle, and the winner is Ampharos." Bubbles' image on the scoreboard shifted to a black outline with a gray background.

Violet: 3

Faye: 3

"Bubbles took a lot of damage from those electric-type attacks, but I think her scuffle with Jayfeather was what really tired her out." remarked Miri as she took down more notes.

Faye held out Nayka's Pokeball and recalled her. "You did well for now, Nayka. Rest." The Ampharos' image on the scoreboard turned gray. Both girls reached for Pokeballs, and tossed them.

Violet sent out her Lucario. "Come on out again, Demon!" The Lucario emerged from the Pokeball and landed on the battlefield, his scoreboard image becoming fully colored.

Faye's choice of Pokemon was her Buizel. "You too, Jetstream." Like with Demon, Jetstream's scoreboard image became fully colored. "Now, Water Gun!" Jetstream shot a stream of water from his mouth at Demon.

"Dodge and use Aura Sphere, Demon!" The Lucario quickly sidestepped the stream of water before forming a cobalt-blue sphere of energy between his paws, flinging it at the Buizel. The attack found its target and struck hard, knocking Jetstream to the ground, and causing him to slide several meters on his back. "Now use Close Combat." The Lucario lapt up and was in the air above Jetsteam, about to execute his attack.

Faye thought quickly. "Water Gun, Jetstream!" The Buizel fired a stream of water directly at the Lucario, drenching him. This did little to deter his attack however, as Demon soon landed on top on Jetstream, beginning to viciously punch and kick the Sea Weasel Pokemon repeatedly.

Nathen cupped his chin. "Jetstream's sure taking quite a pounding. If Faye doesn't do something soon, she runs the risk of losing another Pokemon fast."

Faye gritted her teeth. "Stop that onslaught with Bite!" Demon's eyes widened as his attacks stopped when Jetstream bit down on his left paw, holding him in place. "And now, Ice Punch!" The Buizel's right fist took on a light blue glow, as a light blue stream of energy spun around it. He slammed his fist straight into the Lucario's gut, bringing the Aura Pokemon to his knees. "Again!" Another Ice Punch followed, this time in the style of an uppercut. The Lucario groaned as his head was forced backwards. "Again!" A third Ice Punch struck Demon's gut again.

Violet looked on frantically. "Quick, Demon, Giga Impact!" Orange streaks of energy appeared around Demon, with purple energy envelopping him. Jetstream, still on his back with his mouth still clamped tightly down on his opponent's paw, could do nothing as the attack engulfed him and exploded, causing smoke to appear in the immediate vicinity. When the smoke clared, Jetstream was unconscious with swirly eyes, as Demon lightly removed his paw from the Sea Weasel Pokemon's mouth, dusting his paws off.

The referee crossed his arms. "Buizel is unable to battle, and the winner is Lucario." Faye stared at the scoreboard as the image of her Buizel shifted to a black outline.

She held out his Pokeball and recalled him. "Thanks for all you've done, Jetstream. You deserve a nice, long rest."

Violet did likewise with her Lucario. "Now rest, Demon." The Lucario's image on the scoreboard turned gray.

Miri lifted her head from her notepad. "Good move on Violet's part. Demon would have been unable to move for a while due to his usage of Giga Impact."

Violet: 3

Faye: 2

"So what's your next Pokemon, Faye?" asked Violet.

Faye smirked, unclipping a Pokeball from her belt before tossing it. "This. You're up, Nayka." The Ampharos emerged from the Pokeball, and her scoreboard image was fully colored.

Violet reached for a Pokeball. "An electric-type. Alright, come on out, Blitz!" The Pokeball opened to reveal a Luxray, whose image appeared on the scoreboard.

"Now, Nayka, use Shock Wave!" The Ampharos complied, shooting a blue bolt of electricity from her arms. The unavoidable attack strucked Blitz, who cringed from the impact.

Violet readied herself. "Blitz, use Thunderbolt!" The Luxray nodded and shot a large yellow bolt of lightning at Nayka. The Ampharos grimaced as the attack engulfed her.

"Two electric-types battling. Neither is going to take that much damage from each other." muttered Miri.

Violet stared at the Ampharos on the other side of the battlefield. "Come on, Blitz, use Wild Charge." The Luxray covered herself in yellow electricity and began charging at the Ampharos. She made swift contact, knocking Nayka backwards a few meters, but causing herself recoil damage at the same time.

Faye narrowed her eyes. "Shock Wave!" Faye's Ampharos launched the attack, neatly striking Blitz. Realizing that neither side was making much leeway in this battle, Violet made the quick decision to recall her Luxray, holding out her Pokeball and recalling the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.

"Rest for now, Blitz."

A smile appeared on Violet's face as she tossed another Pokeball, sending out Blitz's replacement. "Your time to shine, Star!" The Pokeball opened as a Togekiss flew out. Blitz's image on the scoreboard turned gray and the Togekiss' image appeared.

Nathen scratched his head. "Switching in a flying-type against an electric type? What's Violet up to?"

He soon found out when Violet ordered an attack. "Use Giga Impact." The Togekiss generated her attack and flew towards Nayka.

Faye's eyes widened. "Dodge it!" The Ampharos did her best to avoid the attack, but was unable to, being struck hard.

Faye frowned slightly. "You want to play it that way, huh? Thunder!" Nayka shot a blast of electricity at the Togekiss, who was rendered immobile due to having just used Giga Impact. The Togekiss was struck, and her features soon began to shift into that of a different creature, one which was bipedal and fox-like. It was mainly gray, with red claws on its paws and feet. It had a large red mane with black spiky tips and a teal bangle near the end of it.

Faye's eyes widened. "What?"

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, Battlefield 1, December 31, 2010, 1 p.m.)_

Watching the battle from a widescreen television in another battlefield, Rory and Amy were dumbfounded as Violet's Togekiss was revealed to be something else.

"What the... What happened to Togekiss? And what is that thing?" asked Rory.

The Doctor looked impressed. "Ah, that would be a Zoroark. Looks like Violet sent him out with the intention of tricking Faye." Amy scanned the Pokemon with her Pokedex.

_Zoroark, the Illusion Fox Pokemon. Zoroark has the power to delude many people at one time. It protects its den by displaying an illusory landscape._

Amy looked puzzled. "How so, Doctor?"

The Time Lord crossed his arms. "Zoroark have a special ability known as Illusion. It basically allows them to copy the appearance of another Pokemon. In a battle, when the Zoroark is sent out, it appears like another Pokemon on the Trainer's team, in this case, Violet's Togekiss. However, once the disguised Zoroark takes direct damage from a move, the illusion is shattered, and it is forced to take its true form. Mind you, this only extends to appearances. Zoroark still has its own moveset and remains a dark-type Pokemon. Needless to say, it's still good for tricking the opponent for a while." The Doctor returned his focus to the screen. Rory and Amy looked amazed as they continued to watch the battle.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, Battlefield 2, December 31, 2010, 1 p.m.)_

"You tricked me." muttered Faye. "No matter, use Charge Beam, Nayla!" The Ampharos began sparking as she fired a bolt of yellow electricity at the Zoroark.

Violet quickly found a counter. "Devil, use Flamethrower." The Zoroark fired a stream of red-orange fire from his mouth, which met the Charge Beam head-on. The two attacks wrestled for dominance briefly, before the Charge Beam prevailed, overpowering the Flamethrower and striking Devil. "Devil, use Focus Blast!" A light blue ball of energy appeared in between Devil's paws, which he fired at Nayka. The attack successfully hit the Ampharos, laving her shrieking in pain.

Faye was frantic. "Hang in there, Nayka, use Shock Wave!" The Ampharos raised her arms and fired a bolt of blue electricity at the Zoroark.

"Devil, use Giga Impact!" ordered Violet. Orange streaks surrounded Devil as purple energy enveloped his body, and he shot towards Nayka. His attack tore through the Shock Wave and slammed into Nayka, who was knocked onto her back. A closer examination revealed that she was out cold with swirly eyes.

The referee looked on. "Ampharos is unable to battle, and the winner is Zoroark. Nayka's image on the scoreboard turned into a black outline.

Violet: 3

Faye: 1

"It's not looking good for Faye. This next bout may very well be the last." muttered Miri as she continued to observe the battle.

Nathen chuckled. "If I recall correctly, this was the score you reached when you battled the Doctor, and he made quite a comeback to end it in a draw."

Miri blushed as she remembered her battle. She pouted slightly. "Hey, how was I to know his Pokemon trained themselves in secret?" Nathen only shook his head in amusement.

"Rest for now Devil." Violet said as she recalled the Illusion Fox Pokemon. Star's image on the scoreboard had been changed to that of Devil's, and it changed to gray.

Faye reached for her last Pokeball. "This could be our last shot, so let's make it count, Flare!" The Pokeball opened, sending out Faye's Typhlosion.

Violet looked at the confident Volcano Pokemon. "Your first Pokemon, huh? Well then, here's my first one too, go Blitz!" Violet tossed her Pokeball to send out her Luxray. The scoreboard relected the change on battlers, with Blitz's image turning fully colored, and Flare's appearing.

Faye gave an order to her Pokemon. "Flare, start things off with Flamethrower!" Flare did as he was told, swiftly shooting his attack at the Luxray.

Violet's response was quick. "Blitz, use Wild Charge." Electricity sparking around her body, the Luxray charged through Flare's Flamethrower before hitting him full-on. Despite this, Flare managed to retain his composure and stood tall.

"Flare, use Lava Plume!" ordered Faye. With a nod from the Typhlosion, an explosion surrounded him. Smog and fire were flung from the explosion at the Luxray.

Violet's eyes widened. "Try and dodge it, Blitz!" The Luxray attempted to do so, but found herself overwhelmed by the fire showering down on her frame. Flame burst from her body as she screamed in pain.

Nathen bit his thumb. "Well, it looks like Blitz just got burned from Lava Plume."

Violet looked on in concern for her starter Pokemon. "Can you still battle, Biltz?" The Luxray nodded. "Good, then use Thunderbolt." Blitz shot off a yellow bolt of electricity at Flare.

Faye responded swiftly. "Dodge it." The Typhlosion dived to his side, but the attack curved and still struck him.

Violet shrugged. "Use Thunder!" The Luxray launched her attack, hitting the downed Typhlosion spot-on.

Faye was alarmed. "No! Use Flame Wheel!" Flare ran towards his opponent whilst covering himself in flames, rolling to meet the Luxray in a flaming tackle. "Keep it up!" The Luxray was being pushed backwards still by the Flame Wheel, which showed no evident signs of letting up.

"Get away from there, Blitz!" ordered Violet. The Luxray quickly leapt from the Flame Wheel she was caught in. "Now, quickly, use Thunder!" The Luxray complied, shooting her attack at the moving Flame Wheel. It made its mark, and the Typhlosion inside was forced to stop his attack as he was shocked by Thunder. "Hyper Beam!" The Luxray complied, shooting off a large orange beam of energy from her mouth at the stunned Typhlosion. The Typhosion screamed as he was hit by the attack, and he suddenly began to glow red.

Miri took notice quickly. "That's Flare's special ability, Blaze. That should even up the odds now that Flare's fire-type moves receive a power boost."

Faye smirked. "Too bad Blitz can't move because of Hyper Beam. Flare, use Fire Blast." The Typhlosion shot red flames which shaped themselves into the kanji for big, 大. The attack soared towards Blitz, whose eyes widened as it engulfed her. When the smoke cleared, she was on the ground with swirly eyes.

The referee nodded towards the fainted Gleam Eyes Pokemon. "Luxray is unable to battle, and the winner is Typhlosion." Blitz's scoreboard image shifted to a black outline with a gray background.

Violet: 2

Faye: 1

"Well, you caught me off-guard, Faye. But that won't happen again. Come on out, Star!" Violet tossed her Pokeball, and her Togekiss came out. However, Devil's image on the scoreboard turned fully colored.

Faye sighed. "Oh come on, is there any point of hiding it? That's your Zoroark. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Flare, use Fire Blast again!" The Typhlosion fired off his attack in compliance, and it struck the Togekiss, quickly revealed to be Devil in disguise.

Violet shrugged. "I guess you caught me. Use Focus Blast, Devil." The Zoroark formed a light blue ball of energy, and shot it at the Typhlosion. It made contact, and the Volcano Pokemon shrieked in pain. "If Blaze activated, Flare's on his last legs. Devil, use Giga Impact!" The Zoroark nodded on shot towards the Typhlosion, his attack in full force.

Faye was alarmed. "Fire Blast, Flare." The Typhlosion attempted to retaliate, but Devil was slightly faster. His attack struck Flare before the Volcano Pokemon could even create a spark for Fire Blast. "No! Flare!" The Typhlosion doubled over and fell hard on his back, with his eyes becoming swirly.

Violet: 2

Faye: 0

The referee nodded. "Typhlosion is unable to battle, and the winner is Zoroark. All five of Faye's Pokemon are unable to battle, which means the victory goes to Violet Kinomoto."

Violet breathed a sigh of relief as she walked up to her Zoroark, holding out his Pokeball to recall him. "You did very well, great battle Devil."

Violet looked up to see Faye approaching her, having recalled an congratulated her Typhlosion on a job well done. "Violet, that was a great battle. I look forward to the next time we call battle like this again.

Violet smiled. "I'd like that a lot, Faye." The two girls turned to see Nathen and Miri approaching them.

The journalist pocketed her notepad. "That was a fine battle, you two. You've giving me quite a bit to write about in the Trainer's Corner of the news. Thanks!" Violet and Faye muttered their "you're welcomes".

Nathen stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Shall we go and see how the Doctor, Rory and, Amy are doing? I think they watched your battle and should be waiting in the lobby.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Battle Club, Lobby, December 31, 2010, 1:15 p.m.)_

"Awww... I can't believe I lost..." moped Faye.

"...in glorious HD too." added the Doctor. Faye scrowled at him. "What? It's true."

Amy turned to face the Doctor. "You know, you lost your battle too, Doctor, against me no less." The Time Lord fell silent. "By the way, what time is it?"

"Almost time for lunch, I'd reckon." replied Rory.

Don George approached the group. "Now that you are all registered in the Battle Club system, anyone requesting a battle can contact you if you have an Xtransceiver."

Miri whistled. "Those things are expensive."

The Doctor looked up in intrest. "An Xtransceiver? Any idea where I can get one?"

Don George nodded. "There's an electronics store on the other side of town that sells them, the rather quiet side. However, their prices are steep. Unfortunately, that's the only place you can get one for miles. We are a small town after all."

The Doctor shrugged. "Fine by me. Now, if you'll just excuse me. I've got an Xtransceiver to buy. Oh yes, and wait here, I'll buy you all lunch." The Doctor dashed out of the Battle Club before anyone had a chance to respond.

Amy sighed deeply. "Why does he always do that?"

Rory shrugged, egg case in his arms. "It's just the way he is. At least he's getting us all lunch."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Honest Electronics, December 31, 2010, 1:35 p.m.)_

"Ah, this looks like the place. Rather run-down though. And it looks like barely anyone ever comes to this part of town." muttered the Doctor to himself as he surveyed the store Don George had directed him to. With a shrug, the Doctor entered the store. The first thing the Time Lord noticed was an overweight and very unfriendly looking shopkeeper reading a newspaper behind a counter near the door. "Excuse me, mate, would you happen to have any Xtransceivers for sale?" The man looked up at the Doctor as if the Time Lord had just insulted him. He simply pointed to a far wall and returned to his newspaper.

Shrugging, the Doctor walked over to the spot where he was directed, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the affixed price tags on the device he wanted. "WHAT? 25,000 POKEDOLLARS FOR AN XTRANSCEIVER? THAT'S HIGHWAY ROBBERY!" exclaimed the Doctor.

The potbellied shopkeeper snarled at the Time Lord. "That's the price."

The Doctor kept a calm face, unintimidated by the big man. "Would you happen to be interested in a bargain, maybe? I mean, I don't think that it's sold for that much elsewhere."

The shopkeeper glared at the Doctor. "Then you can go elsewhere and buy from them. This is my price and I'm sticking to it."

The Doctor simply smiled. "How about 2,500?"

The shopkeeper was livid. "No."

The Doctor was undeterred. "5,000?"

"No."

The Doctor's expression did not change. "10,000? That sounds to be the highest anyone sane would pay for one. Then again, I'm not implying that I _am_ sane, for that matter."

"No!"

The Doctor chuckled briefly at the man's irritation. "Ok, maybe more in your ballpark then. 20,000?"

The shopkeeper exploded at the Doctor. "ARE YOU BLIND, DEAF OR JUST PLAIN STUPID? THE PRICE IS RIGHT THERE!"

The Doctor let out a low chuckle. "Is that why your business seems to be lacking by any chance? So much for 'Honest Electronics'."

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes at the smaller man. "Take it or leave it, buddy. If you're not going to buy anything, you can _honestly_ take a hike!" Without a word, the Doctor turned his back on the rude shopkeeper, exiting the store. The Time Lord walked around to the back of the store, noticing that the area was completely deserted.

"_I know that I can afford it, but I know I'm getting cheated when I see it. I feel sorry for those that don't."_ Finding a discreet corner a few meters away, the Doctor spotted a tall tree and quickly climbed it, being quiet to avoid getting seen or attracting unwanted attention. _"It's not in my nature to commit a crime like this, but heck, I'm a renegade Time Lord _**(1)**_. I'm practically a criminal among my own people. Though this is not the first time I've commited a crime _**(2)**_. Sigh, this world is making me stretch my boundaries quite a bit."_

Reaching for his Pokeball belt, the Doctor unclipped a Pokeball, and sent out his Oshawott. "Osha?"

The Doctor smiled at the Sea Otter Pokemon. "Yes, right now we're in a tree, Oshawott. Listen, I need you to do me a big favour."

Oshawott quickly nodded. "Osha!"

The Doctor beamed. "Good. Now you see that store over there? Here's what I want you to do..." A few minutes passed after the Doctor stared at his Pokemon. "Understand?"

The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded and smirked. "Osha!"

"Good. Get in position." Oshawott leapt from the tree and walked off, while the Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at the building. "Electronic knockout time..."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Honest Electronics, December 31, 2010, 1:45 p.m.)_

The shopkeeper looked up from his newspaper as all the electronics in his store began to spark. Before long, everything blew out and all electronic devices ceased to function.

The man scrowled, realizing that all of his merchandize had been rendered inoperable. "What the bloody hell was that? No good corporate greed compromising the quality of my merchandise." He soon heard footsteps as someone entered his store. Looking at the entrance, he saw Oshawott with his back to him, examining some of the damaged merchandise.

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes at the Sea Otter Pokemon. "Well, what do you bloody want?" The shopkeeper's outburst attracted Oshawott's attention, and the Sea Otter Pokemon turned to face the rude man. Without hesitation, he fired off a Water Gun in the shopkeeper's face. The man spluttered and grabbed a broom. "That's it! I'm going to have your head mounted on my wall!" Oshawott simply smirked before making a face at the shopkeeper, sticking his tounge out in a taunt. The angered man walked around his counter and began advancing on Oshawott, by which time the Sea Otter Pokemon sprayed a good portion of the store with his Water Gun attack. The man swung the broom at Oshawott, which was nimbly dodged. Several more attempts to hit the small Pokemon only resulted in more damage to the store and some merchandise.

Oshawott continued to taunt the enraged man who was charging around like a bull in a china shop, wagging his right arm in a chiding manner. After dodging a few more attempts to strike him, Oshawott removed his scalchop from his chest and slashed it at the broom using Razor Shell. The broom was cut in half, and the man seethed. Oshawott fired his Water Gun attack at the man again, drenching him.

He quickly ran out of the store, with the shopkeeper in hot pursuit. "YOUR SLIMY BUTT IS MINE, YOU LITTLE MENACE!"

Once the store was vacated, the Doctor slowly climbed down the tree and sneaked inside. He whistled as he noticed the extent of the electronics that his sonic screwdriver had deactivated. Taking a step forward, he failed to notice a puddle of water on the floor created by Oshawott, and slipped, falling flat on his back. Groaning, the Time Lord grabbed the edge of the counter and pulled himself up.

_"Ouch. That was awkward. Looks like the security cameras were taken out as well. No risk of anyone catching Oshawott and I on tape. Looks like there was quite a scuffle in here as well. A good number of electronics are smashed. I guess Oshawott suceeded in causing quite a ruckus."_ The Doctor quickly scoured the shelves for what he was looking for, lest someone else enter before he was done. Finding a blue Xtransceiver, the Doctor scooped it up and pocketed it. Before he left, he also noticed an electronic Town Map, which he took as well. _"I doubt the shopkeeper will miss what I took among this mess. He'll have to throw out his entire stock anyway. To his mind, who would steal fried electronics?" _Deciding that his work in the store was done, the Doctor dashed out, hoping to catch up to his Oshawott before the angry shopkeeper did.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Alleyways, December 31, 2010, 1:50 p.m.)_

The shopkeeper swore as he had lost sight of Oshawott at the junction between the street and a deserted narrow alley. "You can't hide forever!"

Oshawott kept as still as possible inside the dumpster where he had taken refuge. He heard the shopkeeper swear briefly before going off down the street, and away from the alley in wich he was hiding. Deciding that he needed to disguise himself in case he ran into the shopkeeper again, Oshawott grabbed a green garbage bag and emptied it of its contents. Wrinkling his nose at the smell, he then climbed inside and used his scalchop to poke holes for his eyes, arms, and legs, tying the top closed.

Climbing out the dumpster, the Sea Otter Pokemon poked his head out the alleyway to see if anyone was watching. He then walked out and went back the way he came. Unfortunately, with the bag partially obscuring his vision, Oshawott walked straight into the legs of a person, tripping him. He heard a yelp as the man fell over, but could not see his face.

He paused as he heard the person get to his feet, afraid that his disguise might be compromised. "Oh sorry, I should have seen where I was going. Really didn't mean to trip over you like that, Trubbish. Well, have a good day."

Oshawott heard the man begin to walk off, and his eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "Osha! Osha! Wott!"

The Sea Otter Pokemon heard the man stop and turn around. "Oshawott? Is that you? My, you had me fooled. You disguised yourself as a Trubbish so that shopkeeper wouldn't recognize you. Am I right?" Oshawott nodded at the Doctor's voice, as he heard the Time Lord kneel down in front of him. "Well, I must admit, that was quite clever of you." Oshawott beamed at the compliment his Trainer gave him.

He felt arms curl around his body as the Doctor picked him up. "Yep, I sto-, I mean, I _got_ that Xtransceiver, and a Town Map too. I'll use my sonic screwdriver to fix them up good as new. Now, then Trub- I mean, Oshawott. Let's get you cleaned up at the Pokemon Center and healed with your friends. Then I'll have to buy lunch for the others. Might spend the rest of the day training at the Battle Club after that." Oshawott nodded as the Doctor walked off in the direction of the Pokemon Center.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Outskirts, December 31, 2010, 1:50 p.m.)_

On the outskirts of Accumula Town, the same green blob-like creature which had observed the Doctor upstage the Team Plasma rally approached the figued dressed in the black hooded cloak. "Well? It's _him_, isn't it?" The creature nodded. "You've done well, Solosis." The figure held out a Pokeball and recalled the Solosis, before turning his back to the town and walking away.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, December 31, 2010, 1:50 p.m.)_

In a small chamber, Ghetsis walked about, immersed in his thoughts. A knock sounded on the heavy door.

Ghetsis perked up in attention. "Enter."

Adam walked in, donned in the uniform of a Plasma grunt, and wearing a blank theatre-esque silver mask with no emotion covering his face, ostensibly to prevent the Doctor's group from recognizing him at the rally if he was spotted by them. "You called?"

Ghetsis turned to face Adam, extreme displeasure etched on his face. "You were there observing the rally. The man that disrupted it, he was the one that rescued the starter Pokemon at Nuvema Town, am I correct?"

Adam nodded. "Yes, sir."

Ghetsis frowned. "Have you planted the information I supplied?"

"It has been done, sir."

"Very well then, you have your instructions. Return to Nuvema Town and continue working under Professor Juniper's employ. Once the next operation begins, ensure that you're with her."

"Understood."

"Excellent. Dismiss." Adam turned his back on the Ghetsis and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Ghetsis grabbed a chair and sat down, deep in contemplation. He muttered to himself. "The White Prince's words were true. The Doctor has returned."

* * *

Author's notes: Well, for me, that was one difficult chapter to write, especially the battle scenes, since I have to look up abilities and secondary move effects. I apologize if anyone's OC loses over the course of the story, but battles with are unimportant to the plot (that includes the Doctor's battle against Amy in this chapter) are decided through die rolls to eliminate bias. Anyways, here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) The Time Lords functioned on a strict policy of non-interference, in the sense that they swore to merely observe the universe and time and let it flow its natural course, instead of meddling with it and potentially messing up any important events. Any Time Lord that defied this rule was labelled as a renegade Time Lord, and considered a criminal. The Doctor is one such Time Lord, and his second incarnation was even executed for one of his "interferences". Needless to say, the Time Lords themselves did not follow this policy religiously, something bending its rules to the point of hypocrisy.

(2) The Doctor is known to have commited several petty crimes over the years if he feels that he has to, though he usually does so with great hesitation.

And if anyone's still interested, I'm still accepting OCs. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Faye Lillian Anderson belongs to Prism Fire.**

**Violet Kinomoto belongs to Miss Kiko.**


	11. The First Day of Spring

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"The peace and beauty of a spring day had descended upon the earth like a benediction."_ - Kate Chopin

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 11: The First Day of Spring**

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Szac's Bedroom, January 1, 2011, 10 a.m.)_

The boy's eyes fought to stay closed, but soon found that feat to be impossible as a piercing green light shined through his eyelids and straight into his vision. He blinked repeatedly in an effort to make the light go away, but was soon forced to fully open his eyes and acknowledge the source of the light. The sight that greeted him was the friendly face of a man with long dark brown hair which partially covered his forehead. The man held a tubular device that was silver on the front end with copper plating underneath. Underneath that, the device had a black segment followed by a white handle, which terminated with an copper back end. The front end of the device also sported a green light.

The man spoke. "Well, top of the morning to you, Szac. Nice to see that you're starting to wake up. Oh, and Happy New Year!" The Doctor smiled and turned off the sonic screwdriver he was shining in the boy's face. "Hey Rory, he's up!"

The only other person in the room, apart from the Time Lord and the boy walked over with a clipboard in his hands, casting a brief glance at the egg case he set down on Szac's nightstand. "Had a relaxing sleep?"

Szac grumbled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"That's good. You'll probably have to stay here for a few days to recover. Those branches did quite a number on you."

Szac sighed. "Well, that sucks."

Rory shrugged. "You'll just have to deal with it. Let's see now, those branches..." While Rory was talking to Szac about the boy's prognosis, behind him, the Doctor was observing the nurse's egg case, and noticed that the egg inside had began to shake, rattling repeatedly against the case. From behind Rory, the Doctor attempted to get the nurse's attention by waving his arms around wildly in a very animated manner, and occasionally jerking a thumb at the shaking egg, all of which went unnoticed by Rory. It was only when Szac began to chuckle that Rory stopped talking about his condition. "...so that cast will have to stay on your arm for... The Doctor's probably doing something stupid behind me, right?" The boy nodded with an amused smile.

Rory turned around to face the Doctor, who was still performing his shenanigans. "Hey, Rory! Rory! Rory!"

The nurse sighed slightly. "You know, you could have just tapped me on the shoulder, Doctor."

Szac looked puzzled. "How is it that he's the doctor and you're the nurse?"

Rory sighed. "He's not that kind of doctor." Rory rolled his eyes before turning to the Time Lord. "What is it, Doctor?"

The Time Lord turned to look at Rory's egg case. "Oh, well, your egg's shaking, mate."

Rory's eyes widened as he followed the Doctor's gaze, beginning to freak out as he saw his egg's movement. "What? Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. This is bad, right? I know it's bad. I followed all of Professor Juniper's instructions too! I didn't expose it to extreme heat or cold, keep it in a safe spot, made sure it didn't get banged around too much, washed it everyday, gave the pillow a good wipe-off everyday, polished the case, and I even read to i-"

Rory was cut off as the Doctor slapped him hard across the left cheek. "WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Behind the two men, Szac was laughing at the scene from his bed. "Your egg's hatching, not dying, for God's sake! It's just like eggs on Earth when they shake, for crying out loud!"

Szac perked up. "Earth? Where's that?"

The Doctor waved him off with a dismissive hand gesture. "Nevermind. Rory, take that egg out of the case already. Don't want the Pokemon becoming claustrophobic if it hatches in there. Can't be good for its health if that happens." Rory complied, removing the egg and its cushion and setting them on the floor. "Oh and grab the Pokeball on the lid so you can catch the Pokemon when it hatches." The egg shook several more times before it took on a white glow, eventually shaping itself into a young Pokemon.

"Audino."

The Doctor smiled at Rory's first Pokemon. "Ah, an Audino. Fitting on some subliminal level, Rory, since you're a nurse." Rory nodded and hesitantly reached his right hand out to Audino. The young Pokemon blinked twice before taking the offered hand and stroking it. The Doctor smiled. "Awww... Looks like she likes you already."

Still letting Audino stroke his hand, Rory stared at the Doctor. "How do you know Audino's a female?"

Szac looked slightly puzzled "Yeah, how? By the way, congratulations on your egg hatching, Rory, and sorry if I kept you up since you had to look after me and all."

The nurse muttered his thanks while the Time Lord cupped his chin. "Call it a hunch. If you want to prove or disprove me, feel free to use your Pokedex to check." Rory did as he was told, and found the Doctor to be correct. "Check her moves too. You may want to test out her battling strength later today." The nurse nodded and did as he was told.

_Audino's moves: Pound, Sweet Kiss._

The Doctor scratched his head. "Two moves? Well, that is to be expected, since she just hatched and all. I'm sure she'll get stronger. Upon hearing those words, Audino walked slowly over to the Doctor and briefly gave him a hug.

Rory chuckled. "It appears that she likes you as well."

"I have a way with Pokemon."

Szac stared at the Audino. "I think you both do, judging by how comfortable she is with you two."

The Doctor beamed while Rory petted his new Pokemon, turning to face Szac. "Well, Nurse Joy or her Audino will be in here soon with your breakfast. You should probably eat up and get plenty of rest. I'll have to leave Accumula Town soon, but I've instructed Nurse Joy on how to change your bandages."

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "We should probably get some breakfast ourselves, since the morning's close to over, and we spent much of our time awake today in here with Szac."

The boy looked slightly guilty. "I'm sorry about that."

Rory waved him off. "Oh, don't sweat it. Just doing my job. Say Doctor, any idea where the others are?"

The Time Lord faced his companion. "I believe Miri wanted to take a walk around town and somehow dragged Nathen off with her. Don't know how she did that, by the way. I think Nathen said something about going to the Battle Club as well. Violet and Faye are probably off training somewhere. They did ask yesterday if they could travel with us at least until we reach Striaton City, since they are challenging its gym."

Rory nodded. "Amy's probably still sleeping then. Not that I blame her, since we did come back to the Pokemon Center from the Battle Club quite late yesterday. Waking her up will be a chore, since she's such a heavy sleeper and not to mention incredibly grumpy when you do wake her up. "

The Time Lord shrugged. "Well, we should get ready for breakfast now." Removing two Pokeballs from his belt, the Doctor sent out Tepig and Oshawott, who walked over to introduce themselves to Audino.

Rory looked confused. "Uh, Doctor? Where's Snivy?"

The Doctor's face suddenly sported a mischievous smile. "Oh, I doubt Amy will be sleeping for long..."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Amy's Bedroom, January 1, 2011, 10:30 a.m.)_

The first sight that greeted the Doctor's Snivy when she climbed into the room from the open window was Amy lying fast asleep in her bottom bunk bed, dressed in her pink nightie. Snivy climbed onto the side of the bed and peered at the woman who was peacefully sleeping. It slightly pained the Grass Snake Pokemon to disrupt her rest, but that feeling quickly faded away and was replaced by a smirk when she remembered the Doctor's instructions. Snivy shook from her mind the idea of the thoughts that would run through Amy's head after she was through with the woman.

As quietly as she could, Snivy climbed up one of the bedposts near Amy's legs. She continued her trek to the top bunk, which was occupied by Rory earlier. Hopping into the bunk, Snivy grabbed one of the messy thin blankets lying on the mattress, before throwing it to the floor. Taking one end of the blanket, Snivy leapt into Amy's bunk and tied it to the bedpost. Jumping to the floor again, the Grass Snake Pokemon took the other end of the blanket and hopped back into the woman's bunk, this time using that end to tie Amy's feet together, which were sticking out from the end of her own blanket. Snivy smirked as she made her way over to Amy's face before hopping onto the side of the bed.

The Grass Snake Pokemon dangled her tail down near Amy's nose and began to tickle it, eventually succeeding in getting the woman to sneeze. Snivy frowned when she noticed the Amy did not wake up, and simply turned on her side. The Grass Snake Pokemon's frown was soon replaced by another smirk however, when she noticed that Amy's right cheek was now fully exposed from her vantage point. Snivy swung her tail back like a baseball bat, before bringing it down to smack Amy's cheek hard. The woman's eyes snapped open as her hand went to cup her stinging cheek. Quickly turning her head, she saw Snivy dangling from the side of the bed, a smirk on the Pokemon's face. Amy screamed at being surprised by the Grass Snake Pokemon.

Regaining her composure, the woman glared at Snivy, hand still at her cheek. "What in God's name was that for?" Snivy simply stuck out her tounge at Amy before jumping off the side of the bed into the woman's bunk, before leaping off to land gracefully on the floor. Failing to notice that Snivy had tied her feet to her bed, Amy yelped as she fell out of her bunk and hit the floor hard while attempting to pursue the Grass Snake Pokemon. Snivy jumped onto the window ledge, and gave the woman a final smirk before making her escape onto a nearby tree. Amy looked at her legs, and finally realized why she had fallen out of bed.

"DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Szac's Bedroom, January 1, 2011, 10:45 a.m.)_

Rory jumped as Amy's scream echoed throughout the building, while Szac almost choked on the cereal he was eating for his breakfast in bed.

The Doctor only chuckled. "Yep, if you ask me, Snivy makes a very convincing and persistent alarm clock. And any late risers should now be fully alert, thanks to Amy."

Rory gulped. "Amy will want to kill you now **(1)**."

Szac swallowed his food and trembled slightly. "Your wife sounds scary, Rory."

The Doctor looked at his watch. "Blimey, it's almost 11 a.m. Guess we'll be having brunch instead, courtesy of your wife, Rory."

The nurse nodded. "Alright. Have a good rest, Szac." The boy murmured his thanks and waved as the Doctor and Rory exited the room.

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Canteen, January 1, 2011, 11:15 a.m.)_

In the Pokemon Center's canteen, brunch for the group was, needless to say, initially tense and quiet. Amy sat across the table from the Doctor and Rory, repeatedly shooting dark looks at the Time Lord, which went unnoticed by their intended recipient for the most part, as he was too fixated on his pancakes. After the volatile awakening his wife received, Rory choose to stray away from both the firey woman and the unflappable Time Lord as much as possible, sipping his coffee in awkward silence. Their Pokemon all sat on the floor at the end of the table, each with a dish of Pokemon food.

The silence would soon be shattered by a news report from a widescreen television on the wall. "Reports have come in of a Zekrom sighting in Icirrus City earlier today. The Deep Black Pokemon's cloud struck several buildings with lighting, causing moderate damage. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the attack. This marks the first sighting for Zekrom in 2011, and certainly an eventful way for residents of Icirrus City to begin their year. No pattern of attack or intentions for such attacks from Zekrom has yet been established. The first Zekrom sighting in recent times was reported on March 7, 2010."

People at surrounding tables began conversing. "Funny how we've been getting all these reports on Zekrom appearing all over Unova, and not a single one on Reshi-" A loud thump was heard from under the Doctor's table, drawing a few brief stares from people in the room.

Amy yelped. "Ow! Doctor, you kicked me!"

The Time Lord looked rather sheepish. "Oh, sorry about that, Pond. These tables don't offer that much legroom." Amy scrowled at the Doctor.

By this time, the man had continued talking. "I mean, it is Zekrom's counterpart, and I wonder why it hasn't shown up yet. Isn't its role to maintain balance against Zekrom's destruction?"

Rory reached for his cup of coffee, tuning out the rest of the stranger's conversation. "Another incident by Zekrom. That's one heck-of-a-way to spend New Year's Day for whoever lives in Icirrus City. Where is it anyway?" The Doctor took out his Town Map, and switched it on, spinning the laptop-like device around so the nurse could see its screen, which now displayed an image of Unova.

He pointed to a dot on the southeastern part of the map. "We're here in Accumula Town." The Doctor's finger shifted to a dot on the northwestern part of the map. "And Icirrus City is right there."

Rory peered in for a closer look. "That's quite a distance."

"It is. It's highly likely that we won't set foot in it for a very long while. For Trainers starting their Unova journey from Nuvema Town, the Icirrus City gym is usually the seventh one they challenge."

Rory whistled. "Zekrom must have traveled quite a distance to reach there from Nuvema Town in four days."

"I wouldn't put it past a Pokemon like Zekrom to make that trip in even less time. It is one of Unova's _most powerful_ Pokemon after all."

"We'll have to get there eventually, right?"

"Well, yes, if I am to obtain a badge there. There are only eight gyms in Unova after all, and obtaining all eight badges are needed to enter the Unova League, and perhaps find out more about why Zekrom is now free and roaming the region, when it was supposed to have been sealed away for its destruction."

Amy set down her orange juice and turned to the Doctor. "Say, Doctor?"

The Time Lord switched off the Town Map. "What?"

"Where did you get that..."

"Town Map."

Amy nodded. "Town Map. Where did you get it?"

"I, er, _bought_ it along with my Xtranceiver here." The Doctor pulled up the sleeve of his tweed jacket to reveal the blue Xtransceiver he obtained the previous day, strapped to his arm just above his watch. "Already contacted Professor Juniper and gave her my number." Amy simply nodded. "The Time Lord continued."Well, fun fact. In addition to today being the New Year, it's also the first day of spring."

Rory scratched his head. "But it isn't even March yet."

"Yes, but in Unova, each season lasts for a month, and thus, each season occurs three times a year. The seasons begin and end at the start and end of each month. Spring in particular, occurs in January, May, and September. Consequently, summer happens in February, June, and October, autumn in March, July, and November, and finally, winter in April, August, and December."

Rory was puzzled. "Why is that the case?"

"I believe it's due to the fact that this world orbits its star four times faster than Earth does. Despite that fact, a year on this world lasts as long as one on Earth, as opposed to the four months one would think. Outwardly, both this world and Earth look rather similar."

"So why does a year here last twelve months instead of four?"

The Doctor tapped his fingers against the table. "The White Prince is why. He dictated that a year would span twelve months, though no one has any idea why he made such a declaration. It spread to the rest of the Pokemon world."

Rory nodded. "I see."

"Strangely, the other regions, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh don't seem to have a system of seasons like Unova. The climates in those regions remain relatively constant throughout the year. I suppose that's why it was easier for them to adopt the White Prince's declaration. Anyways, it won't do us much good if we spend the day cooped up in here, so I say we follow the others' example and take a walk around town."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Streets, January 1, 2011, 12 p.m.)_

The Doctor enthusiastically walked out of the Pokemon Center with his Snivy perched on his left shoulder, his Tepig and Oshawott following at his feet, behind him was Rory and his newly-hatched Audino. Reluctantly bringing up the rear was a slightly sluggish Amy, who looked like she wanted to strangle the Doctor. Amy's Lillipup followed at the feet of her Trainer.

The Time Lord took a deep breath and inhaled the air. "Ah! The first day of 2011! And not to mention the first day of spring! What did Neltje Blanchan say again? Oh yes, 'Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of spring?' There's nothing that can beat this feeling of renewal and rejuvenation!"

Amy scoffed. "Sure there is, Doctor. A relaxing sleep in a nice warm bed, which may I remind you, your Snivy stopped me from enjoying! And you kicked me in the shin at breakfast! I think I still feel it now! Were you wearing cleats?"

The woman glared at the Doctor and his Snivy, which the Grass Snake Pokemon responded to by simply sending a smirk in her direction. Tepig and Oshawott began to chuckle, and so did the Doctor. "Still grumpy eh, Pond? I'm sure that will pass once you get into the spirit of spring!"

"Somehow, I doubt that very highly."

The Doctor chuckled. "Well, to quote Jane Fonda, 'A man has every season while a woman only has the right to spring.'"

Rory chuckled. "How true."

Amy crossed her arms. "Can I exercise my right by returning to bed then?"

The Doctor shook his head in amusement. "Not the first time I've had to face a skeptic, now come on, time's a-wasting!" The Doctor walked off ahead, followed by his Pokemon.

While his Audino stared at the sights of Accumula Town in fascination, Rory turned to face his wife. "It's not that bad, Amy. As Susan J. Bissonette said, 'An optimist is the human personification of spring.'"

Amy groaned. "Oh, don't I know that..."

The Doctor stopped walking and turned around to face Rory and Amy. "Well, what are you two waiting around back for? Come along now. To Christina Rossetti, 'Spring is when life's alive in everything.' Can't waste that now, can we?"

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Streets, January 1, 2011, 3 p.m.)_

"Accumula Town really is quite a small town." muttered Amy after a few hours of taking in the town's sights.

The Doctor turned to face his companion. "That doesn't mean there is not much to see, Pond. Haven't your trips in the TARDIS taught you that?"

Rory shrugged. "Apart from the Pokemon, this place seems realtively similar to a town on Earth, actually."

"You have a point there, Rory. Speaking of which, I have an idea. How about a test?"

"A test, Doctor?"

"Yeah, a test of compatibility. That Audino's your first Pokemon. Why not see how much in sync she is with you through a battle? It'll help her get stronger. Besides, you kept commenting on how you couldn't battle yesterday because she was still an egg."

Rory appeared to consider the idea. "That could work."

Amy crossed her arms. "Hold on, you're just going to agree to that? He's a madman with a box **(2)**! Besides, Audino just hatched a few hours ago. Is she really fit to battle now?"

The Doctor turned to face his companion. "I assure you, Pond. Some Pokemon are capable of battling well from the moment they're born."

"Well, at least let me battle with Rory."

Amy half-expected the Time Lord to reject the idea, and was surprised when he clapped his hands a few times. "Bravo, Pond, you have just described the concept of the double battle, that's when each side uses two Pokemon in the battle. A great way for them to cooperate, I'll say. Now double battles, as I have said, involve four Pokemon, but the number of participating Trainers can vary. It can be two, where each Trainer uses two Pokemon, three, where a pair of Trainers each using a single Pokemon face off against a Trainer using two, or four, where each Trainer uses a single Pokemon. Some moves even work differently, being capable of striking multiple opponents, and some can even hit your teammate in addition to the opponents, so caution should be used when utilizing them, but none of our Pokemon know such moves right now. So how about it?"

Amy thought for a minute. "I guess that could work. What do you think, Rory?"

The nurse shrugged. "I'm up for it."

The Doctor beamed. "Excellent. There's a field up ahead, shall we?"

"Well, I guess you're up, Audino."

The Hearing Pokemon nodded and stepped forward. "Audino."

Amy gestured to her only Pokemon. "Get ready, Lillipup!" The Puppy Pokemon walked up beside Audino. A silent look between the two Pokemon affirmed that they were on the same side.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Lillipup and Audino. Well then..." The Time Lord flicked his right hand in a beckoning gesture, signaling Tepig and Oshawott to walk forward and meet their opponents on the other side. Snivy stayed off on the sidelines behind her Trainer. "I'll give you lovebirds a few minutes to discuss strategy." The Time Lord crossed his arms and waited while Oshawott turned around and gave Snivy a wink, causing a faint blush to appear on the Grass Snake Pokemon's face, which she quickly tried to hide.

The Sea Otter Pokemon smiled and turned to his battle partner, speaking quietly out of Snivy's earshot. "Osha. Osha." _"She so likes me."_

Tepig chuckled. "Pig. Te. Te." _"That was so obvious to so many Pokemon at the lab."_

"Wott. Osha. Wott. Wott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Wott." _"You know, before the Doctor came along, I was afraid that we would all be separated when different new Trainers would eventually come and select their starters."_

"Tepig. Tepig. Te. Pig. Pig. Pig." _"Yeah, I hear you, pal. That same thought crossed my mind too. I guess we owe a lot to the Doctor."_

"Oshawott. Wott. Oshawott. Osha." _"Then let's not disappoint him."_

"Pig. Pig. Te." _"Speaking of disappointing, you want to impress her, don't you?"_ Oshawott blushed. "Te." _"Thought so."_

"Osha. Wott. Wott!" _"Hey, don't tease me!"_

"Te. Te. Te. Pig. Tepig." _"Oh relax, we're all friends here. Besides, I have a Lillipup's butt to kick."_

"Oshawott. Osha. Osha. Oshawott?" _"Still sour about your lost from yesterday, huh?"_

"Tepig." _"Yeah, so leave him to me."_

The Doctor stared at the couple across from him. "Are you two ready now?" Rory and Amy nodded. "Then you may have the first move."

Amy scoffed. "Again, Doctor? Haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"

Tepig and Oshawott appeared to be offended while the Time Lord stared piercingly at the woman. "Don't get too smug, Pond."

Amy waved off the Doctor. "Whatever. Lillipup, use Take Down on Oshawott." The Puppy Pokemon nodded and lunged at the Sea Otter Pokemon.

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Tepig, defend Oshawott by using Flame Charge to meet Lillipup's attack." The Fire Pig did as he was told, engulfing himself in a cloak of fire before charging at Lillipup.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "I could use some help here, Rory!"

The nurse straightened his frame. "Er, right. Audino, use Sweet Kiss on Tepig." The Hearing Pokemon moved to blow a kiss at the approaching Fire Pig Pokemon in a bid to confuse him.

The Doctor pointed at Audino. "Quick, Oshawott, use Water Gun on Audino!" The Sea Otter Pokemon shot a stream of water from his mouth and successfully struck the Audino, forcing her to cease her attack. At that moment, Tepig and Lillipup collided, and the Puppy Pokemon was forced backwards from the Flame Charge attack. Tepig reared his head back and struck Lillipup with it, knocking the Puppy Pokemon aside. "Oshawott, get in there and target Audino with Razor Shell. Tepig, use Ember on Lillipup." Oshawott removed his scalchop and charged towards Audino while Tepig shot a stream of fire bolts at Lillipup.

Amy's eyes widened. "Lillipup! Dodge that Ember and intercept Oshawott with Bite!" The Puppy Pokemon pursued Oshawott, causing the Ember attack to miss him in the process. Lillipup eventually overtook Oshawott and got in front of Audino, biting down on the Sea Otter Pokemon's hand holding the scalchop when he swung it down with a pillar of water attached to it to strike.

The pillar of water dispersed as Rory capitalized on the opportunity. "Audino, use Sweet Kiss on Oshawott." As Lillipup released his hold on Oshawott, the Hearing Pokemon blew a kiss, from which several pink hearts appeared from her mouth. The hearts swirled around Oshawott before making contact with him, confusing him. The Sea Otter Pokemon walked around in a daze, dropping his scalchop. "Now use Pound." The Hearing Pokemon nodded and her right arm took on a white glow, before she whacked Oshawott across the face with it.

"Lillipup, use Work Up and then Take Down." The Puppy Pokemon nodded and glowed crimson, before slamming into the Sea Otter Pokemon. Oshawott stumbled backwards and tripped on his dropped scalchop, falling flat on his back.

Snivy gasped, her face filled with concern, while the Doctor crossed his arms. "Tepig, help Oshawott by using Tackle on Lillipup." The Fire Pig Pokemon ran towards his target.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Dodge it!" Lillipup attempted to follow his Trainer's command, but was unable to evade Tepig, who knocked him aside with Tackle.

"Now, use Ember on Audino." Tepig fired off his attack at point-blank range and it hit its target, forcing Audino to back away from his teammate. "Hmmm... Oshawott's still confused, so Tepig, use Flame Charge on Lillipup."

Amy looked intently at the flame cloaked Fire Pig Pokemon headed for her Lillipup. _"The Doctor seems to view Lillipup as more of a threat right now, it seems. Okay then, you want to play it that way, huh?" _"Lillipup, dodge it!" The Puppy Pokemon dashed out of Tepig's trajectory. "Use Work Up!"

"Ember!" Tepig veered out of his attack and shot fire bolts at Lillipup from his snout, hitting the Puppy Pokemon and causing him to stop using Work Up.

Rory saw his opportunity. "While Tepig's distracted with Lillipup, Audino, keep using Pound on Oshawott!" The Hearing Pokemon complied, repeatedly whacking the downed Sea Otter Pokemon with her arms.

The Doctor visibly tensed. "Tepig, use Tackle on Audino!" The Fire Pig Pokemon began charging toward the Hearing Pokemon in a bid to stop her assault on his teammate.

Amy was quick to respond. "Oh no, you don't! Lillipup, you use Tackle on Tepig!" The Puppy Pokemon immediately pursued the opponent he was designated in a bid to land his attack.

"Turn around and meet Lillipup with Flame Charge, Tepig." The Fig Pig Pokemon halted his Tackle before turning to face the quickly approaching Lillipup. He cloaked himself in fire and ran straight into the Puppy Pokemon, knocking him aside. "Now, use Flame Charge again, this time on Audino!" Tepig nodded and began to head for Audino, cloaked in fire once again.

Rory became alarmed. "Audino, get away from Oshawott so you can dodge that Flame Charge!" The Hearing Pokemon attempted to do as she was told, but Tepig caught up to her, successfully connecting his attack.

Snivy breathed a sigh of relief. "Tepig's Speed is boosted each time he uses Flame Charge, Rory, in case you were wondering." The Doctor turned to look at his Oshawott, who shook his head slightly, and slowly got to his feet. "Ah, looks like the confusion's gone now. Oshawott, retrieve your scalchop quickly!" The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded and began slowly walking towards his weapon, still feeling some residual effects from being confused.

Amy pointed at Oshawott's scalchop. _"Oshawott's scalchop is the key to his strong Razor Shell attack. Separating him from it has to be a priority."_ "Lillipup, knock Oshawott's scalchop as far away as possible with Tackle! Any suggestions, Rory?"

The nurse nodded. "Just one. Audino, use Sweet Kiss on Oshawott."

The Doctor smirked. "Tepig, cover Oshawott and then use Ember on Audino." Taking advantage of his boosted speed, the Fire Pig Pokemon ran in front of Lillipup and shot off his Ember attack before being hit by the Puppy Pokemon's Tackle, giving Oshawott the opening needed to pick up his scalchop, just as Audino was struck by Tepig's attack, disrupting her Sweet Kiss. "And now, use Razor Shell on Audino, Oshawott." The Sea Otter Pokemon took advantage of the Hearing Pokemon's distraction, elongating a pillar of water from the scalchop in his hand, and striking Audino with it. The Hearing Pokemon staggered from the hit, before falling on her back with swirly eyes.

Rory's eyes widened. "AUDINO!"

Amy sighed. "Lillipup, use Work Up and then Take Down on Oshawott!" The Puppy Pokemon charged at the Sea Otter Pokemon, a crimson aura surrounding his body.

The Doctor stared at his Oshawott. "Quick, Oshawott, use Razor Shell again!"The Sea Otter Pokemon ran at the charging Lillipup and swung his scalchop back. Before he coud complete his attack, however, Lillipup hit him with Take Down, the Puppy Pokemon's Attack and Special Attack augmented by Work Up. Oshawott dropped to his knees and fell face first onto the ground, clearly unconscious. Snivy covered her eyes. "Well, Oshawott did take quite some damage from Audino's Pound attacks to him while he was confused. Tepig, Ember!" Tepig nodded and fired his stream of fire bolts at Lillipup from his snout, scoring a clean hit. "Tackle."

Amy gritted her teeth. "Dodge it!"

The Doctor stared smugly at his companion. "I think not." Tepig lunged at Lillipup, who attempted to do as his Trainer had instructed him, but could not evade Tepig due to the Fire Pig Pokemon's increased Speed. Tepig's attack make contact, forcing Lillipup back a few meters. "Flame Charge!" Tepig cloaked himself in fire and lunged at Lillipup, successfully hitting him again. "Ember!" A third attack from Tepig struck his opponent. Flames burst out from underneath the Puppy Pokemon's body, causing him to howl in agony. "Looks like Lillipup's now burned. Ember does have a small chance of doing that."

Amy crossed her arms. "Lillipup, use Bite!" The Puppy Pokemon dashed over to The Fire Pig Pokemon, fangs bared, before latching onto Tepig's side with them. Tepig's eyes narrowed.

"Tepig, use Flame Charge."

"Get away from Tepig, Lillipup!" The Fire Pig cloaked himself in fire. While Lillipup managed to leap away from Tepig in the nick of time, the Fire Pig Pokemon turned around and slammed into the Puppy Pokemon, who yelped as he was knocked a few meters into the air. Lillipup landed in a unconscious heap, his eyes swirly.

The Doctor stared at his companions. "Looks like that's that. You both did well for your first double battle."

Rory looked at the Doctor. "Are you implying that this is _not your_ first double battle, Doctor?"

"Well, we'll see, now wouldn't we?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rory's question went unanswered as the Doctor had walked over to his unconscious Oshawott and picked him up, bringing the Sea Otter Pokemon to the sidelines and setting him down next to Snivy. Tepig followed his Trainer to join his friends.

Snivy rushed over to Oshawott, who was staring to regain consciousness. She lightly whacked him on the cheek with a vine from her shoulder. "Vy. Sni. Vy Snivy!" _"Don't worry me like that!"_

Oshawott's arm went to rub his cheek slightly as he chuckled. "Oshawott. Oshawott. Wott." _"Didn't know you cared."_

Snivy pushed Oshawott's arm away from his face and rubbed the spot she whacked him herself. "Vy. Vy. Sni. Vy. Sni." _"I do, you silly oaf."_ The Grass Snake Pokemon gently rubbed the base of the Sea Otter Pokemon's chin with her other vine, causing Oshawott's face to go slightly red. The Doctor and Tepig beamed at the sight.

The Time Lord whispered to the Fire Pig Pokemon. "I definitely see something here, don't you, Tepig?" The Fire Pig Pokemon nodded with a smile. The Time Lord grinned. "I could work something out between them then." Rory and Amy walked over with Audino and Lillipup. "Ah, well I would say that the two of you have the perfect compatibility with your Pokemon. You're forming good bonds with them even though you only knew them for a short time." Audino and Lillipup walked over to the Doctor and bowed slightly.

Rory smiled. "So that was a battle. Well, I had fun, and it was a plus to battle with Amy." The woman blushed. "You've formed good bonds with your Pokemon too, Doctor."

The Doctor beamed. "Why thank you. Since we'll be starting off for Striaton City tomorrow, how about we relax on the grass for a bit? Maybe some cloud gazing? I haven't done that in a long while."

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Field, January 1, 2011, 3:45 p.m.)_

The Doctor smiled as he heard the cries of Pidove flying over himself and his companions. "Ah, the chirping of Pidove. Brings to mind that quote from Francis M. Chapman, who said that 'Spring would not be spring without bird songs.' Winter is over now, and Pliny the Elder remarked that 'From the end spring new beginnings.'" The Time Lord and his companions were lying on the grass with their Pokemon, looking up at the clouds. "Hey Amy, this remind you of our encounter with Vincent van Gogh **(3)**?"

The woman continued to look up. "I suppose he got some inspiration from doing this."

"I don't doubt that." The Doctor sighed contently. "'Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.', according to W. Earl Hall."

Rory pointed in the sky at a cloud. "I think that one looks like a Minccino."

The Doctor smiled and pointed at a different cloud. "Yeah? I think that one looks like a Beartic."

"What's a Beartic?"

"Don't worry, Rory. I'm sure you'll see one on our travels later on."

"I see. Must be a Pokemon then."

"It is."

Amy looked hesitantly at the sky, before pointing at a cloud. "I suppose that one resembles a Pidove."

The Doctor's eyes followed Amy's finger. "That looks about right."

Rory perked up. "You know, I wondered why Unova's cities and towns had cloud-derived names."

Amy looked at her husband. "Such as?"

"Think about it. Nuvema Town, Accumula Town, Striaton City, Nacrene City, Icirrus City... They all have what sound like types of clouds or cloud-related words in their names. So I asked Nurse Joy."

"And what did you learn?"

"It turns out that cloud gazing was one of the White Prince's favourite hobbies. He did it fairly often too. When he took the throne, Unova's settlements were all little more than armed forts scattered across the region. When the first of such forts became an organized town, he himself named it Castelia Town, now Castelia City. When other settlements followed and built themselves up from simply being armed forts, they also took on cloud-like names."

"Another contribution by the White Prince..." remarked Amy.

The Doctor sported a large smile that went unnoticed by the couple. He pointed to a cloud. "I think that one looks like Reshi-" The Time Lord abruptly stopped himself and closed his eyes, a single teardrop flowing down his cheek.

Rory turned to face the Doctor. "You okay, Doctor?"

The Doctor sighed. "I'm fine, Rory. Don't worry about this old man." Amy felt like pressuring the Doctor to finish his earlier sentence, but stopped when she saw a few more teardrops flow down the Time Lord's cheek. She got up and crawled over to the Doctor, holding out a white handkerchief, which the Time Lord quietly took. "Thank you, Amy."

The woman stared on. "Don't get me wrong, I've still ticked at what you did to me earlier today, Doctor, but it's still the first day of spring. 'No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.', that's what Hal Borland said, right?" A soft smile graced the Doctor's features as he wiped his eyes with the handkerchief, his companions and all their Pokemon silently looking on.

* * *

Author's notes: I suppose this chapter was partly an excuse to focus on the Doctor's companions and show off my ability to quote famous people. Well, I feel that I might have been neglecting attention on them lately in favor of showcasing OCs, so this is a break of sorts from that. Here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) This is a reference to a line used by Rory in the episode "Amy's Choice" when the Doctor accidently upsets some flowers in the couple's garden.

(2) In the episode, "The Eleventh Hour", Amy called the Doctor a "madman with a box" as one of her first impressions of him, something which he immediately enthusiastically confirmed.

(3) In the episode "Vincent and the Doctor", set during a trip to Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890 to visit Vincent van Gogh, the artist invited the Doctor and Amy to see things as he saw them, lying down on the grass to look at the night sky for inspiration.

If anyone's still interested, OCs are still being taken. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Joker'sTwinBro-FlameOfRecca's.**


	12. The Dilema of Temporal Direction

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Time moves in one direction, memory in another." _– William Gibson

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 12: The Dilema of Temporal Direction**

* * *

_(Accumula Town, Streets, January 2, 2011, 9 a.m.)_

The rays of the sun penetrated the glass doors of the Pokemon Center, as they slid open to grant the Doctor access to the streets of Accumula Town, followed by his companions.

The Time Lord's visage held an expression of awe as he gazed up into the sky. "Ah, a beautiful sunny day. What a pleasant way to begin a journey with. Not the first day of spring anymore, but definitely a sight to behold."

Rory smiled. "You seem quite energized today, Doctor."

"Yep, had a nice sleep and I feel like I'm on top of the world!"

"But you only slept for three hours yesterday **(1)**!" exclaimed Faye.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So?" Faye muttered something under her breath before shrugging.

Rory crossed his arms. "It's a pity that Szac will be stuck in the Pokemon Center for quite a while."

"Well, I'm sure that we'll encounter him again later on. Anyway, next stop, Striaton City, due north from Accumula Town, with Route 2 between them."

Amy looked at the Doctor, a tad irritated by the speed at which he had just spoken. She hoped that the others could discern what the Time Lord had said. "And how long would that take?"

"Oh, about nine hours of travel on foot, I believe. Route 2 is slightly shorter than Route 1, so if we leave now at 9 a.m., we should be able to get there at around 6 p.m. without stops. May add an hour or less to that for lunch. We can eat dinner in Striation City itself."

Amy sighed. "My feet will get sore."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh _shut up_, Pond, it's not that bad. This route's shorter than the previous one. We'll likely have to start spending two or more days on the later ones. Besides, we'll be spending our first night camping in Unova in the Pinwheel Forest. Actually, maybe Route 3 instead. There are quite a few things to see on that route. Should be a nice, relaxing experience to sleep under the stars, unless you didn't pack properly, that is."

Amy narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Well, did you or did you not pack all that you needed, Pond? Simple as that."

"I did, Doctor. I'm not new to this whole camping thing, you know."

"Well, you didn't have to get so defensive then, unless your only experience with 'camping' is sleeping out in your frontyard the night I first met you **(2)**."

The Doctor gave Amy a sly smirk, which the woman returned with a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just your not-so-imaginary friend **(3)** making an observation. Besides, you'll get to see and feel all sorts of things, the scenery, the Pokemon, the wind in your face..."

"And the sore feet." complained Amy.

"I thought all those times you spent running around with me would have gotten you used to that."

Violet scratched her head. "Running? Just what did you people do before you started this journey? And what did you mean by 'not-so imaginary friend', Doctor? You look like you're around Amy's age."

The Time Lord chuckled awkwardly. "It's...a long story."

"Well, there will be plenty of time of tell it, no? The journey to Striaton City is nine hours on foot after all."

"It's something you won't believe."

"Try me."

The Doctor shrugged. "Regardless, I'm none too keen on saying it, and I believe that I have my rights to privacy. We're not going to get far going back and forth like this, so I suggest that we head off before it actually gets dark." With that said, the Time Lord turned his back on his companions and began to walk away.

Violet scratched her head. "Touchy..."

Nathen shrugged. "Well, it's probably best not to pry. I've only known the Doctor for a short while but I can tell that things won't be good for you if you have him as an enemy. Now let's go."

Faye looked at the Doctor's retreating back. "He is certainly one interesting man. Weird, but interesting."

* * *

_(Unova Route 2, Clearing, January 2, 2011, 1 p.m.)_

The Doctor gazed forward as he and his companions reached a clearing with several tall trees growing around it. He set down his backpack. "Ah, this looks like a nice place to stop for lunch. Well, we've been at it for four hours, and though this is entertaining and all, sometimes I have to ask. Is this how time normally passes? In the right order **(4)**?"

Miri scratched her head. "The 'right order'? What do you mean by that, Doctor? I thought time only goes in one direction, forwards."

"Well, Miri, that just might not be the case. Some physicists just simply believe otherwise **(5)**."

"Must be due to Pokemon like Celebi and Dialga." muttered Violet.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, look at it this way, those two Pokemon have the ability to test the philosophy of temporal direction."

Rory looked confused. "What are Celebi and Dialga?"

Nathen appeared to disappear while the Time Lord crossed his arms. "Two Legendary Pokemon that have the ability to manipulate time. Celebi is a protector of forests who has the power to travel through time while Dialga is, for this world, time embodied. It can warp time by either speeding it up, slowing it down, or stopping it altogether. Either way, neither of those Pokemon are found in Unova."

Rory appeared to be awestruck. "Pokemon that can control time..."

"Yeah, I know, Fascinating, isn't it?"

"So, can either of them break Time-Locks **(6)**? Like the one imposed on the Time War **(7)**?"

"I think Dialga may just be capable of it, provided it can access Gallifrey. It is exceedingly difficult to get past that given lock to enter or leave the time and space it encompasses. I think the clearance provided is less than a second **(8)**." _"Though I wouldn't put it past him to get through just fine."_

Faye appeared to be confused. "What are you and Rory talking about, Doctor?" The Doctor's eyes widened slightly, as if he had just said something he was not supposed to. Amy looked smugly at the Time Lord, ostensibly enjoying his discomfort.

The Doctor scrambled to say something, sitting down under the shade of a tree. "Er, nothing. Just nothing. Anyway, back on topic. The problem with the direction of time. It's an issue that stems from two facts which contradict each other. First is the fact that the fundamental physical laws are time-reversal invariant, or the way they work remains unchanged under some transformation, said transformation being the hypothetical idea of time going backwards. That fact states that those laws will work the same way regardless of whether we are going forward or backwards in time. So, anything that can happen moving forward through time, the 'normal' direction, is equally as possible moving backwards in time. In a practical standpoint, if you were watching a movie, what you see on the screen is the same regardless of whether the projector was running the film forwards or backwards. Outside the confines of this fact, we would think that running the film backwards would consequently make the movie run from end to start."

Faye nodded. "That sounds reasonable enough. What's the second fact?"

The Doctor cupped his chin. "The second fact is that our experience of time, at the macroscopic level, where objects or processes are of a size which is measurable and observable by the naked eye, is _not_ time-reversal invariant, or that the experience changes and varies if time goes backwards. Look at it this way. A glass of a drink falls off a table and smashes on the floor. That surely happens frequently. But you don't see shards of glass in puddles of beverages put themselves back together and fly back onto tables, now do you?" The Doctor's companions shook their heads, prompting him to continue. "It is important to note that we have memories of the past, and none of the future. Of course, we feel that we can't change the past but can influence the future. Now there are three common solutions as to this problem of which direction time flows."

"And those are?" asked Violet.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "The first solution, the causation solution, takes a metaphysical view, concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, where the direction of time follows from an asymmetry of causation, the relationship between an event, which is the _cause,_ and a second event, the _effect_, where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first. Well, our perception is an effect caused by elements of the past, which is why we know more about it than the future. We perceive that we can't affect the past and can affect the future because we _can't_ affect the past and _can_ affect the future. But there are two main objections to this view."

"Which are?" asked Faye.

The Doctor continued. "First is the difficulty in defining causation, which is distinguishing the cause from the effect in a non-arbitrary way, that is not based on individual discretion or judgment. Also, that it is not based on stipulation, that the truth of it is not merely acknowledged and therefore not challenged. The use of causation in constructing a temporal ordering, or timeline, could become circular, in the sense of a series of events influencing each other, with the last somehow influencing the first, due to the fundamental physical laws being time-reversal invariant, so they work either way regardless of whether time goes forward or backwards. The second problem with this solution is not its consistency, but its power to explain phenomena. While the causation solution, if successful, may account for some time-asymmetric phenomena like past actions influencing perception, it does not account for many others, such as the example of the breaking glass."

Rory whistled. "Fascinating."

The Doctor nodded. "Indeed. However, the asymmetry of causation can be observed in a non-arbitrary way which is not metaphysical, in the example of the breaking glass. In this order, we can attribute the pattern caused by the spilled beverage and glass shards to the trajectory of the cup, any irregularities in its structure, and the angle of its impact on the floor, to name a few. However, if we applied the same event in reverse, it is difficult to explain why the glass shards should fly up onto the table and reassemble into the shape of a glass, or why the beverage should position itself entirely within the glass. The causes of the resultant structure and shape of the glass, and the encapsulation of the beverage by the table under the glass are not easily attributable, as neither table nor floor can achieve such formations of the glass or beverage. This asymmetry of causation is perceivable on the account of two features. One, the relationship between the agent capacities of the table, composing of what it is and is not capable of, and its purpose, and any non-animal agency, such as what floors are and are not capable of, and teir respective purpose. And two, that the shards of glass on the floor came to possess exactly the nature and number of shards composing a glass before assembling. In short, such asymmetry is attributable to the relationship between straight temporal direction on the one hand, and the implications of form and functional capacity, such as that of the glass, on the other. The application of these ideas of form and functional capacity only dictates temporal direction in relation to complex scenarios involving specific, non-metaphysical agency, which is not merely dependent on human perception of time. However, this last observation in itself is not sufficient to invalidate the implications of the example for the progressive nature of time in general."

Amy ran a hand through her hair. "Is that all?"

The Doctor leaned back against the tree he was under. "It is for the causation solution. The second solution to the problem is called the thermodynamics solution, which relates the direction of time to the nature of thermodynamics, the science of energy conversion which involve heat and other forms of energy. While our basic physical theory of laws is, in fact, time-reversal invariant, thermodynamics are not. In particular, the second law of thermodynamics states that the net entropy, or natural disorder, of a closed system never decreasesand only increases as time goes by, and this is why we often see glass breaking, but not coming back together. By the way, if anyone's curious, the first law is simply a statement that energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely converted to another form."

Miri bit her lip while scrawling in her notepad, trying hard to keep up with the Doctor's rapid speech patterns. "Any other laws?"

The Time Lord nodded. "Oh yes, the zeroth law states that if two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, being that the amount of heat in them is the same, they are also in thermal equilibrium with each other. The third law states that the entropy of a system approaches zero, or proceeds to cease, as its temperature approaches absolute zero. Now then, while this solution would seem like a satisfactory answer, things got more complicated in statistical mechanics, a branch of physics that applies probability theory to the study of the thermodynamic behavior of systems composed of a large number of particles. Probability theory is a branch of mathematics concerned with the analysis of random phenomena, and contains mathematical tools for dealing with large populations. On one hand, statistical mechanics is far superior to classical thermodynamics, in that it can be shown that thermodynamic behavior, such as glass breaking, can be explained by the fundamental laws of physics paired with a statistical postulate, something assumed without proof as being self-evident or generally accepted. On the other hand, however, statistical mechanics, unlike classical thermodynamics, is time-reversal invariant. The second law of thermodynamics, within the confines of statistical mechanics, merely states that it is _overwhelmingly_ likely that net entropy in a closed system will increase, but it is not an absolute law. Current thermodynamic solutions to the problem of the direction of time aim to find some further fact, or feature of the laws of nature to account for this discrepancy, that statistical mechanics is time-reversal invariant, while classical thermodynamics is not. Personally, I think it's all a doozy."

Violet shrugged. "You said there was one more solution, Doctor?"

The Time Lord briefly checked his watch. "Yes I did, Violet. The third solution, known as the laws solution, argues that the fundamental physical laws themselves are _not_ time-reversal invariant. For example, certain processes in quantum mechanics, relating to the weak nuclear force, are deemed as not time-reversible, keeping in mind that when dealing with quantum mechanics, time-reversibility is comprised of a more complex definition. I personally think that this type of solution is insufficient because number one, the time-asymmetric phenomena in quantum mechanics are too few to account for the uniformity of macroscopic time-asymmetry, such as the asymmetry of causation, and nuber two, it relies on the assumption that quantum mechanics is the final or correct description of physical processes. One recent argument in favor of the laws solution, is that in addition to quantum mechanical phenomena, our basic spacetime physics, that is general relativity is not time-reversal invariant. The frequently complicated definitions that underlie time-reversal invariance are deined, with the argument that these definitions themselves cause the appearance of a problem of the direction of time. And with that, I'm done."

Miri put away her notepad. "That was really a lot to take in. Hmmm... Has anyone seen Nathen?"

Amy turned her head and saw the person Miri was looking for. "Chack by that tree over there. I guess he must have wanted some time to himself. The Doctor does tend to ramble on and on. That man really loves to hear himself talk." Miri followed Amy's directions, and sure enough, found Nathen sitting on the ground, his back to the Doctor, resting against a tall sturdy tree. On his lap was an open black leather-bound drawing pad. The boy stared intently at the page he was on, gently rubbing out a small detail with an eraser before bringing in a sketching pencil to correct his mistake. From her vantage point, Miri could vaguely make out a human face on the paper, but little specific details as Nathen's frame obscured most of the image he was drawing.

The journalist slowly approached the boy. "What are you working on?" Nathen jumped slightly before quickly closing his sketch pad, preventing Miri from discerning any further details on his drawing.

"Uh, nothing, nothing at all. Just wanted a bit of time to myself. I heard what the Doctor said, and while it was fascinating, I just had a muse. I draw when I feel like it, it's one way I like to express myself, and take in the beauty in all that I see, you know?"

Miri nodded. "Yeah, I do. I meet all sorts of interesting people on my travels and there are just so many adventures to be had in the world. I'd hike up rocky mountains and snowy cliffs just to find out what's there, and hence, I write for the same reason."

Nathen sported a cheeky grin. "As well as a paycheck?"

Miri blushed. "Hey!" Nathen chuckled, causing Miri's expression to soften. She gestured at his sketchpad. "C-Can I-I see? Your work, that is, if I'm not too much trouble. I-It's okay if you're not comfortable with that."

Nathen blushed. "Er, yeah, sure, I guess so." The boy handed over his drawing pad. Inside were various drawings painstakingly done in pencil, primarily drawings of his own Pokemon in various postures, but also including scenes of towns, cities, and landmarks that he had visited, people he had met, and Legendary Pokemon.

"These are good. Have you considered getting them displayed at the art gallery in the Castelia Gym?" Nathen blushed.

When Miri moved to flip the page which followed an illustration of his newly acquired Tepig, the boy grabbed her hand, stopping her, a very evident blush on his face. "Wait, I-I h-haven't finished the next one yet. M-Maybe I can show it t-to y-you later?"

Miri beamed. "I'd love to see it. Wait, isn't that the Doctor's Xtransceiver ringing?"

"Looks like he has a call then." The two teens walked over to the clearing to see the Doctor press a button on his Xtransceiver to accept the call.

The Time Lord smiled when he saw a familar face appear on the screen "Ah, Professor Juniper. What can I do for you?"

The professor smiled. "Glad to see that you're doing well, Doctor. You're now en route to Striaton City, right?"

"Yeah, I should be there in a few hours, why?"

"Well, I hate to ask, but would you mind doing me two big favours?"

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "What sort of favours?"

"For one, I was scheduled to give a lecture at the Trainer's School in Striaton City, but I've received word of a possible archeological discovery of great importance at the Relic Castle, so I was wondering if you could take my place."

"Oh sure, why not? It's for the kids. Could be fun. What's the second favour?"

"Well, I'm bringing one of my assistants, Nicolas Summers, who's currently at Nacrene City, with me to the Relic Castle to help out. Plans have been made for any artifacts discovered at the Relic Castle to be transported to the Nacrene Museum. Nicolas' sister, Sophie, another one of my assistants, just arrived at Accumula Town, and will likely reach Striaton City after you. Unfortunately, she has a tendency to keep her head in the clouds, if you know what I mean. Not that she's incompetent, but sometimes I wish she would step up and get her agenda in proper order. I just sent Skylar to Accumula Town to join her in going to Striaton City. Anyway, if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could meet up with the two of them when they get to Striaton City and take them to Nacrene City with you. I could stand to have more of my assistants there to help out with researching possible artifacts. You're welcome to help as well when you get to Nacrene City, though I warn you, there may be a lot of other researchers at the museum."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, it is along the way. I don't believe that it would be a problem. And how about Spencer?"

"He'll be joining us in Nacrene City later. Thanks for your help, Doctor. I'll inform you when Skylar and Sophie reach Striaton City, as well as when to give that lecture at the Trainer's School. Good luck to you and your companions in challenging the Striaton Gym."

"Oh, no problem. I'll be seeing you later, Professor Juniper."

The Doctor terminated the call as Amy looked on. "Looks like you have some things to do in Striaton City, Doctor, as well as that gym battle to worry about."

The Doctor turned to face Amy. "Oh relax, Pond. I'm sure I'll do fine."

"That's what they all say, Doctor."

"I mean it."

Amy scoffed. "Sure you do."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

Rory sighed, observing his wife and the Time Lord through one of their verbal exchanges. "Lunch is ready." Rory's companions walked over to eat, slightly glad to be away from the bickering.

* * *

___(Accumula Town, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 2, 2011, 2:35 p.m.)_

A girl seventeen years of age stood in front of a screen for one of the Accumula Town Pokemon Center's video phones. She was 5'7", with long blue hair tied into pigtails, and had a teardrop-shaped scar under her right eye, which like her left, was auburn-colored. Her complexion was fair, and she had nails that were painted with black nail polish. Around her navel was a tattoo of a Pokeball, and a long diagonal scar streaked across her back. She wore a light blue sleeveless shirt with a black turtleneck, and a white unbuttoned vest over it. She also wore black fingerless gloves that reached up to her wrists. A purple belt with a silver buckle was tied around the shirt, and she has black shorts. Her feet had black boots which stretched to her knees.

"How have you been, Nicolas? I hear that you're headed to the Relic Castle soon." The nineteen year old man whose face was on the screen chuckled. He was 6'2'', and had feathery, ruffled, ebony-colored short hair with blue specks. He also had yellow eyes and a fair complexion. He wore a long-sleeved, white buttoned up shirt that was covered by an opened black jacket and black jeans. He also wore black steel-toed shoes and white fingerless gloves.

"Yeah, I am, which is more than what you've done, Sophie."

The girl crossed her arms. "For your information, I'm following instructions by Professor Juniper to wait here until Skylar comes."

"True, but you really should pick up the pace. The world won't wait for lazy bums, you know."

"Well, you're too transient."

"It beats staying around in one place for too long. Maybe that's why Professor Juniper picked me to go with her to the Relic Castle."

Sophie sighed. "I really wanted to go..."

Nicolas shrugged. "There's always next time, sis, though I suggest that you get your act together and be on top of things. That's why I bought you that agenda for your last birthday. Did you even use it? Besides, I also suggest that you get yourself over to Striaton City ASAP once you meet up with Skylar. Professor Juniper told me about that researcher who agreed to take you with him to Nacrene City, and what he has done for her. He seems like a nice man, and appears to move around a lot, so I doubt he would tolerate your complacency towards your laziness. You're lucky that he has other business in Striaton City to take care of besides his gym battle. Should give you some time to catch up to him, though you can't play catch up all your life, which is liable to happen if you don't start taking some things more seriously. You weren't this lazy when you were a kid."

Sophie sighed. "Alright, alright. Well, people change when they grow up, okay? I've used your gift quite a few times, or have you forgotten? Stop bugging me already. I'll behave for that researcher. What was his name again?"

"John Smith, but he prefers to be called 'The Doctor'. His credentials showed that he's a very renowned researcher, something I hope you'll aim for. I'd like to meet him when you all reach Nacrene City, and if I hear any complaints from him about your behavior, you'll have to deal with me. You may be my sister and all, but I can't be losing face to others in the research community because of you."

"Fine. You are 'Mr. No Fun' sometimes, you know that?"

Nicolas chuckled. "If I had 1,000 Pokedollars everytime you said that, I would be financially secure for the rest of my life, Sophie."

The girl rolled her eyes at her brother. "Well, enjoy your trip, Nicolas, and I guess I'll be seeing you at Nacrene City. Bring back lots of good stuff."

"Oh, I'm sure we will, sis. I have to go, our jeep is leaving in a few minutes."

Sophie sighed as the screen went blank. She walked to the Pokemon Center's canteen, muttering to herself. "Sometimes, I wish Nicolas would have more faith in me..."

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 2, 2011, 3 p.m.)_

Within the dark chamber that served as a meeting room for the seven men, the figure, seated at the head of the table, faced a Plasma grunt who had just entered. "Have we ascertained the location of the Light Stone yet?"

The grunt trembled slightly. "N-No, s-sir." Standing up and kicking over his chair, the figure walked over to a nearby wall. He growled and slammed his fist against the wall, leaving a small dent in it. The impact rattled the contents of the room, including the black sphere of stone on the table, which threathend to roll off at any second. The grunt shuddered in fear and slowly backed away from him.

The figure screamed. "DAMN THE WHITE PRINCE!"

"Uh s-sir, the W-W-White Prince-e h-h-had n-nothing to do with its l-l-location-n..." The figure turned to face the stuttering Plasma grunt, who turned white as a sheet. Although the grunt could not see the figure's face, he could tell that he had evidently drawn the person's ire.

"I DON'T CARE! But nonetheless, did those researchers take the bait?"

Breathing a slight sigh of relief at the figure lowering his voice, the grunt still chose to avert his gaze. "They are planning on looking into it, according to Adam. To think that the Black Prince had other Pokemon in his possession..."

From behind his hood, the figure smirked. "And when they finish their work at _the site_ and transport _the goods_, we strike. From this, the resurrection project shall begin. Tell those scientists to prep _the location_."

"Yes, sir." The figure waved dismissively at the door, and the grunt took it as his cue to leave. Almost immediately, another knock sounded on the door.

The figure sighed. "Enter." A 6'1" nineteen year old man with thin and straight long black hair walked into the room. He had amber eyes and was remarkably skinny and near underweight. He wore a long and tight black cashmiere long-sleeved shirt, and loose, silky purple pants. On his head was a purple jester hat emblazoned with the Team Plasma logo. "Oh, it's you."

The man laughed. "Your greeting comes like warmth on a summer day. But your cloak evokes gloominess as dark as the wings of a Honchkrow."

The figure sighed. "Cut that out. You know why I called you here, Felix?"

"Oh yes, that job at Striaton City. Oh, don't you worry your pretty little face about a thing."

The figure's right hand clenched into a fist, but that action went unnoticed by Felix. "If you want to get paid..."

"I know, get the job done. Even a thousand blunt pencils cannot surpass your dullness."

The figure ignored the comment. "Now that we've settled that, I propse a toast." The figure reached under the table and placed a glass bottle of dark-red liquid on the table. The bottle had a white label simply adorned with the Team Plasma logo. "Maybe you'll stop biting your tounge to taste the 'coppery aromic delight'.

"This isn't wine, is it? Oh goody." It was the figure's turn to laugh. "Bottoms up." A grunt brought in two wine glasses and shot a look of disgust at the bottle before bowing and leaving. Felix seized the bottle and poured himself a glass of the liquid, gleefully downing it. While Felix's attention was distracted with the bottle, the figure turned to the round object on the table. From behind his hood, the figure stared at the black stone sphere with disgust and contempt. He leaned in forward and spat on the sphere, grinning as his saliva flowed down the stone orb.

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I apologize if anyone found it hard to understand what the Doctor said about temporal direction, though I tried to make it as simple as I could, wih help from Wikipedia and a physics textbook, thus I don't think this is a particularly good chapter. The concepts surrounding spacetime is one thing that has always fascinated me, and I suppose you could say that this chapter was partly written for my own amusement. It gives the Doctor a chance to show off his penchant for techno babble, and brings to mind the fact that Doctor Who was originally conceived as an educational show to teach science and history to children. Well, the chapter's also meant to serve as filler, and ideas for such filler set on routes between towns and cities are hard to come by for me. If anyone has any suggestions for such filler, I would appreciate it if they want to share them. If I decide to write such ideas as future chapters, the person who came up with it will be credited accordingly.

(1) Time Lords can frequently make do with much less sleep than humans, some even being fully refreshed after an hour of sleep.

(2) when the Doctor first met the seven year old Amy in 1996 following his last regeneration in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", he promised the girl that she could travel in the TARDIS, but left to fix the time machine when he discovered that there was a problem with it, deciding that a quick trip to the future would help fix the engines. He told Amy that he would be back in five minutes, prompting the girl to pack her bags and wait out in her frontyard for him, eventually sleeping there. Unfortunately, the Doctor miscalculated and returned twelve years later in 2008, by which time, Amy was resentful of him for breaking his promise. It would be another two years before she got to properly travel with him, since the TARDIS had repaired itself and he left to test it out again, unintentionally taking too long and finally arriving in 2010.

(3) Due to pressure from the rest of town, Amy was prompted to view the Doctor as an imaginary friend, though she never stopped believing that he did not exist. She was vindicated in the episode "The Big Bang", when the Doctor appeared as a surprise guest in the TARDIS at her and Rory's wedding ceremony.

(4) This is a reference to a line made by the Doctor in the episode "Vincent and the Doctor", when the Doctor is forced to wait for a series of events to take their course, and could not use the TARDIS to simply travel to the moment in time that he wanted.

(5) Being a race with a sizeable amount of control over how events flow within time, Time Lords possess a non-linear sense of temporal direction, and do not see time as flowing in a simple straightforward direction as most humans do, owing to the Time Lords' ability to travel forward or backward in time and potentially alter events themselves. This especially applies to the Doctor, since his own personal timeline consists of adventures in rapid succession taking place in various years and places due to travel in the TARDIS.

(6) A Time-Lock is a mechanism whereby an event or series of events was rendered difficult to access or leave by time travel. A particularly powerful one would require a lot of skill to breach.

(7) Between 1996 and 2005, during the time of the Doctor's eighth incarnation, the Last Great Time War broke out across many different points in space and time between the Time Lords and the Daleks, Doctor Who's most iconic enemy race. The Doctor ended the war which appeared to last an eternity, mutually wiping out the Time Lords and the Daleks in the process, as well as several other alien races. While the Daleks have slowly recovered their numbers, that action rendered the Doctor as the only remaining Time Lord, and his TARDIS as the only one left in existence.

(8) The events of the Time War were time-locked to ensure that time-travelers would not be constantly be changing its events, which could be extremely dangerous to the time line. The clearance needed to breach the powerful Time-Lock on the Time War was a fraction of a second, making it extremely difficult to access the Time War itself.

And OCs are still being taken. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Faye Lillian Anderson belongs to Prism Fire.**

**Violet Kinomoto belongs to Miss Kiko.**

**Sophie Summers and Nicolas Summers belong to yuukifan001.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**


	13. A Gym with Choices

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose." _– J. Martin Kohe

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 13: A Gym with Choices**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Market, January 3, 2011, 11:30 a.m.)_

Apart from Nuvema Town, Striaton City was typically the first point of intrest for Trainers traversing the Unova region. Located north of Accumula Town, this moderately-sized city played host to one of eight sites essential for a Trainer's quest to the Unova conference, a Pokemon gym, which the Doctor and his companions were walking down the streets to find.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "It's too bad that the Town Map told us the gym was closed by the time we arrived here yesterday. I guess it saved us the time taken in going there and finding out the hard way."

Rory nodded. "It's a rather useful device then."

"Indeed. Too bad we all slept in, and now it's almost lunch time. I guess we really should be eating something soon. Now then, since there are four of us challenging the gym, Nathen, Violet, Faye, and myself, have we decided how we'll do things? I doubt we can all battle the gym leader today, since they are human after all, and their Pokemon also need rest. I think I'll have my gym battle last, just to be nice."

Amy shrugged. "How about the rest of you draw lots to determine the order that you'll face the gym leader then? And whoever can't face him or her will do so tomorrow."

The Doctor beamed. "An excellent suggestion, Amy. What do you all think?" The Doctor's companions all quickly voiced their approval towards Amy's suggestion.

Violet clicked her fingers. "By the way, I've heard that the gym leader is a Pokemon Connoisseur."

Faye looked puzzled. "What's a Pokemon Connoisseur?"

"A Pokemon Connoisseur is a person that specializes in identifying the compatibility between Pokemon and their Trainers. They then use their knowledge and experience to diagnose the bond between Trainer and Pokemon, and from there give advice on how to strengthen that bond. They aren't particularly well known outside of Unova. The job is punctuated by many odd references to food, and the 'tastes' and 'flavors' that such bonds take on. The White Prince was the world's first Pokemon Connoisseur, so the whole trade started with him."

"So did he also put in those food references?"

"No, those came later. Shortly after he died, a disciple of his in the field added them. This disciple was also one of the chefs that served the princes, and a rather artistic man. He believed that the bonds between people and Pokemon mature over time, like fine wine."

"All those artsy food references added to the occupation of Pokemon Connoisseur... The White Prince must be turning in his grave..."

The Doctor shook his head slightly with a smile. "Nah, I think he would be highly amused by it instead."

Amy raised an eyebrow and turned to her husband, lowering her voice to a whisper so that the others could not hear her. "You think the Doctor met the White Prince during one of his escapades into the past?"

Rory nodded. "That seems to be the case."

Nathen decided to speak up. "Speaking of the White Prince's contributions to Unova, here's another one. He introduced maternity leave."

Faye looked confused. "What? That's a new one I've heard. How?" Out of his companions' view, the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

Nathen continued. "Well, I have an ancestor who was a servant under the two princes, and she was pregnant too. Her husband was a soldier whom the White Prince knighted. The White Prince told her to leave the castle and not come back until her son was born, _for her own safety_." From behind the his companions, the Doctor looked to be in deep thought, trying to remember an incident from the past.

"Why's that?" asked Faye.

"There was an incident where she served the Black Prince his wine along with another servant. You know how the cutlery and dishware in the castle were half-ivory and half-ebony? They placed the goblet in front of him, _ivory_ side facing him. That was a big mistake to him." Faye looked as if she did not know what happened next but decided to ask anyway.

"What did he do?"

"It was probably an accident, but the Black Prince was furious. He kicked my ancestor in the stomach and whacked the other servant on the cheek with the pommel of his claymore, which was infamous as the bloodiest weapon in Unova."

Miri gasped. "T-That's h-horrible..."

Nathen nodded. "Yeah, he almost cost my ancestor a miscarriage too. The White Prince healed the two ladies before sending my ancestor and her husband home until her pregnency was over. Shortly thereafter, the two princes fought each other along with their dragons and died as a result. I guess it was due to the White Prince's action of sending her away that my ancestor survived." The Doctor clicked his fingers as if a lightbulb went off in his head. A mental image filled the Time Lord's mind.

_A man that appeared to be in his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair stared calmly at another man of the same age, this one with combed back dark hair. _

_The blonde haired man narrowed his eyes at the other man. __"Why did you attack those servants, hmmm?" _

_The dark haired man clenched his fists. __"I believe they told you why."_

_"That was the reason? It was an honest mistake, for God's sake!__"_

_The dark haired man pointed an accusatory finger at the blonde haired man. __"Oh, so now you are taking their side as well, eh? Everyone is always against me, even you!"_

_"Eh? I doubt that you have done much to win anyone over, come to think about it." _

_The dark haired man drew his claymore from its scabbard, whose blade was ebony-black. He pointed it threateningly at the other man. __"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP, WILL YOU?" _

_The blonde haired man sighed, reaching for his own claymore. He unsheathed the blade, which, in contrast to the other, was ivory-white. __"Here we go again..." _

The Doctor shook the image from his head and turned to Nathen. "So, Nathen, were you ancestors Allen and Kayla Pierce by any chance?"

The boy looked very surprised. "Yeah, they were. How did you know?"

The Doctor was briefly caught off-guard before he shrugged. "Oh, the same last name and such. I'm a Pokemon researcher, you know. I research and, er, learn these things."

"I see, I almost forgot about that."

The Doctor had a small smile as he was left to his thoughts. _"The boy's certainly a lot like you two, Allen and Kayla. Definitely quite tenacious and loyal."_

"Wait, you said the White Prince healed them? How do you heal someone who had an injury like being kicked in the stomach while pregnant? The effects on the fetus could be catastrophic." asked Rory.

"Through aura. The White Prince was a known Aura Guardian." replied Nathen.

"What's aura?"

"Aura is a form of energy that is the essence of every living creature, and it has several properties that can be tapped into. Throughout the years, a few individuals have gained the ability to sense and control its power, so they can utilize it. One such use of aura is the capability to heal others, though it is draining to the user. Aura Guardians can also 'sense' other auras and view their surroundings even with a blindfold, and also view through some objects. They can also read the minds and actions of another being, and are telepathic. Aura can also be projected to create barriers and attacks. In its basic from, projected aura takes on a cobalt-blue color."

Amy's eyes widened. "Wait, that guy that attacked me in Accumula Town, did he use aura?"

"That appears to be the case, Amy." said the Doctor.

"So there are people that can use it. Well then, how does one get that ability?"

Nathen crossed his arms. "It's just that some people have the innate ability to use aura, but such individuals are few and far between, Amy. It is said that the two dragons of Unova can modify one's aura to give the person additional abilities, though they do not grant a person the ability to manipulate aura itself. Conversely, they can also strip people of such additional abilities, even if they weren't the source to begin with."

Amy nodded. "I see. Wait, can the Black Prince use aura as well?"

Nathen shook his head. "I don't think so, at least not to my knowledge." The Doctor let out a soft sigh that went unnoticed by his companions as another mental image flashed in his head.

_The man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties held out his right arm, palm facing upwards. A cobalt-blue sphere of energy hovered above his outstretched palm. The other man, with combed back dark hair, glared at him._

_"And, pray, just where did you learn how to do that?" _

_The blonde haired man smirked. __"That is what you call immersing yourself in the culture of this world. You should try it sometime. Wait, come to think about it, all you occupy your time with is thoughts of how to subjugate every person here under your rule."_

_"No one here is my equal but you! I rule this land, and those commoners had better not forget it!"_

_The blonde haired man narrowed his eyes. __"Hmmm? True, yet that is not the way to gain support."_

_"Who cares? They had better obey me, or they will be EXTERMINATED!"_

_"Such a barbaric approach, and against all principles of aura manipulation. That all life is sacred."_

_The dark haired man narrowed his eyes. __"Do not get preachy with me!"_

_"Very well, but your ideals are not aligned with the way to awaken such an ability." _

The Doctor sighed as the mental image faded from his mind. A thought came him. _"And they still aren't, even today... And yet he managed to awaken it anyway, though that twisted manner..." _At the back of the group, the Doctor pulled out a pair of white tube socks from a pocket of his tweed jacket, looking briefly puzzled as to their presence in his pocket. Shrugging, the Time Lord decided to roll them up to save space in his jacket, but failed to find much success in that endeavour.

Amy decided to speak. "Sigh, well that's all fine and dandy. The White Prince did this, the White Prince did that. What's next? The White Prince rolling up a pair of tube socks in a more effective manner than the rest of us?" From behind Amy, the Doctor stopped and stared at the pair of tube socks he had failed to roll up in his hands, and then at the woman's back, before hastily shoving the socks back into his jacket pocket before anyone could see them, a bashful expression on his face.

"I don't doubt that he could do that, if tube socks were around back then." replied Violet. The Doctor shoved his hand into his pocket, pushing the tube socks in as deeply as he could. "By the way, anyone know _where_ the Striaton Gym is?"

The Time Lord took out his Town Map and switched it on. "It looks like we're almost there, actually. We just have to go down the street in the middle of this market."

"Odd place to put a gym, near a market." said Miri.

"You'd think it would be in a more prominent place, eh?" replied the Doctor.

"Sure, I guess. By the way, what's the Striaton Gym's dominant type?" asked Miri.

Rory scratched his head. "Dominant type?"

Miri nodded. "Yeah, each gym is led by a gym leader who specializes in a specific type of Pokemon, so Trainers would have to plan the Pokemon and moves that they use against him or her accordingly."

Violet shrugged. "Well, I have no clue."

"Nor I. Say Nathen, you're from Unova, right? So what is the Striaton Gym's dominant type?" asked Miri.

Nathen chuckled, sporting a sly smile. "Oh, I think it will be a surprise when you find out."

Rory chuckled as well. "I suppose _not_ knowing provides for a nice challenge."

The Doctor switched off his Town Map and pocketed it. "Well, it's almost time for lunch, so let's just find the gym quickly and get some battles out of the way. Then we can eat."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, January 3, 2011, 11:45 a.m.)_

The Doctor soon found himself staring at a large posh-looking dome building with a brown facade. The red doors had a Pokeball symbol above them, and were flanked by Doric order stone columns with additional columns at the ends of the building. Two rows of columns with two columns each were erected in front of the entrance. The presence of the building's second floor was indicated by a row of windows above the entrance. A stone Pokeball was mounted on top of the building. The roof of the building was topped with glass to allow natural sunlight in.

The Doctor waited for his companions to catch up to him while he admired the building's structure. "Hmmm... It looks like this is the place, according to the Town Map. Design seems reminiscent of Roman architecture. Ah, there you all are. I guess we should really be going in then. No sense in just standing out here." The Doctor stepped forward and pushed open the doors, and was met with a peculiar sight. Instead of corridors into the gym's interior, the Time Lord saw a large room with orange walls. White tablecloth-covered tables were situated at various points in the room, with several people seated at them. The Doctor quickly noticed that all of them were female.

Amy peered her head into the room past the Doctor's shoulder and her eyes widened. "Wait, so this is the Striaton Gym? A restaurant? Methinks your Town Map might be broken, Doctor."

The Time Lord shook his head. "No, Amy, I've positive that it isn't. I even checked it with the sonic screwdriver myself before using it. Besides, the Pokeball symbol above the door clearly indicates that this is a gym."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Okay, so what's the challenge then? _An eating competition?_"

The Doctor sighed. "Oh _shut up_, Pond. Even if this isn't the gym, it's still a restaurant. And frankly, it's lunch time. Getting a quick bite here won't hurt." The Doctor and his companions were soon approached by a man in his early twenties who had red eyes and large red hair styled like the flames of a fire. He was dressed in a white dress shirt with a black vest that had gold buttons over it. The man also wore black trousers and fine brown shoes. Tied around his waist was a white apron and around his neck was a red bow tie. It was easy to discern that he was a waiter. Looking further inside, the Doctor noticed two more men of the same age who were wearing the same clothes. One had short green hair styled like grass shoots on the front and back, while the other had blue hair styled like waves of water in dreads which covered his right eye. Like the red haired waiter, the other two men had eyes and bow ties that matched their hair color.

The red haired waiter picked up a few menus and gestured towards a table. "Welcome. Please, do come in. A table for seven it is, then." The group walked into the building and took seats at the table they were directed to. "My name's Chili, and I'll be your server today. Let me know if there is anything you need." Chili handed each person a menu before bowing slightly and walking away.

The Doctor had a silly grin on his face. "Know what I noticed?"

Faye put down her menu. "What is it, Doctor?"

The Time Lord looked to be in deep thought. "All of the waiters are wearing bow ties."

Faye rolled her eyes. "Oh gee, you just noticed?"

"Since you haven't said anything about it, am I to assume that you have as well, Sarcasm?"

Faye sighed deeply. "Will you stop calling me that?"

Putting down his menu, the Time Lord shrugged and took out his wireless microphone from his jacket pocket, switching it on. With a firm grip on the device, the Doctor jumped up onto the center of his table, kicking over a few menus. "YOU SEE! YOU SEE! ALL THE WAITERS ARE WEARING BOW TIES! BOW TIES ARE COOL!" Looking around the restaurant, the Time Lord noticed many of the customers covering their ears and whincing. "Oops, I probably shouldn't have shouted." Amy groaned and hastily buried her face behind her menu.

Rory sighed. "Doctor, you're making a scene..."

The Doctor grinned and chuckled. "Yeah, I am. Nothing like spreading the awesomeness that is a bow tie."

"'Awesomeness' isn't even a word, Doctor."

"So what? Bow ties are cool, Rory. Now that is an irrefutable fact."

Faye groaned. "The Doctor really is unflappable."

Still not removing her face from behind her menu, Amy sighed deeply. "Welcome to my world. He's going to get us thrown out of here, I can just feel it."

"Uh, now that you've made your point, Doctor, why don't you just take a seat?" asked Nathen in an attempt to dispel some of the awkward tension.

The Time Lord casually switched off his microphone and returned to his chair as if nothing had happened. He picked up a menu from the floor, mumbling to himself. "Let's see here, what to order... I don't suppose they have fish fingers and custard..." His comments earned him a few confused looks from his companions, but they went unnoticed by the Time Lord.

A conversation broke out at a nearby table between two teenaged girls. "That man who just shouted about bow ties is crazy, though he was cute."

The second girl rolled her eyes. "I'll say. He's so not cool."

"Say, have you heard about the recent expedition to the Relic Castle?"

The second girl shrugged. "Yeah, I think the researchers said something about a possible discovery pertaining to one of the princes."

"Which one?"

"The Black Prince, I believe."

"Wonder what they will find?"

"Who knows? Oh yes, it was on the news, but about ten Trainers and their Pokemon have gone missing in Icirrus City."

"The place Zekrom attacked two days ago?"

"Yeah, the place Zekrom attacked two days ago."

"That Pokemon is a menance."

"A menance that could fry you to a crisp if it felt like it."

"How fitting that Zekrom would be the Black Prince's dragon."

"If the White Prince were still alive, he'd know what to do."

The first girl put a hand over her heart. "I'll say. I heard that he was so dreamy." From behind his menu, the Doctor looked very bashful.

The second girl found another compliment to say. "And his dragon is so beautiful. They make such a good match, him and Reshi-"

The Doctor quickly slammed his menu down on his table with a loud thud, earning himself a few more glances from other customers before he quickly waved over Chili. "Alright, I'm ready to order."

Showing no sign that he was affected by the Doctor's outburst about bow ties, the waiter removed a notepad from his belt. "Let's hear it then."

The Doctor chuckled awkwardly before picking up his menu and quickly thumbing to a random page. His finger wavered over the list for a few seconds and pointed out an item. "I think I'll have that, please."

"Ah, our Supreme Lunch. Good choice." Rory's eyes widened as he flipped to the same page on his menu as the Doctor did. "And how about for the rest of you? The others, save for Amy, quickly made their orders before handing in their menus, and Chili left.

Rory turned to the Time Lord. "Uh, Doctor? Y-You just o-ordered the most e-expensive item on the menu."

It was the Time Lord's turn to widen his eyes. "What?" The Doctor swiped Amy's menu out of her hands and began flipping through its pages.

The woman looked livid. "Doctor, that was mine!"

"Oh _shut up_, Pond. You didn't even order anything and only used it to hide your face. In fact, _why_ were you hiding your face? Now let's see here. Blimey, I _did_ order the most expensive item on the menu." The Time Lord shrugged. "Oh well, no matter. At least the bill won't be a surprise when it comes."

Amy huffed. "What, you didn't even _know_ what you ordered?"

"I was, er, _distracted_. Yes, let's just go with that."

Amy rolled her eyes before coming to a realization. "Wait, I _didn't_ order anything?"

"Uh, that would be correct, Amy. Don't worry, Rory got something for you." The woman simply nodded.

"Still, who blows 1,500 Pokedollars on a single meal?" asked Faye.

Miri shrugged. "The Doctor's a Pokemon researcher, so he's probably loaded."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Yes I am, and could you kindly _not_ announce it to the whole restaurant? I highly doubt that any of you want to be mugged on the way out just for being with me. Anyways, I have a feeling that this building really is the Striaton Gym."

Violet looked intregued. "Why's that?"

"From the outside, this is a fairly big building, and look how much of its interior space this restaurant occupies in comparison. Barely any. And even if you deduct some more space for a kitchen and pantries, that's still plenty of space in the building that remains unaccounted for. I have a feeling that the battlefield is somewhere in here after all. It and the stands do take up quite a lot of space, you know. It's doubtful that all this space would be used for offices and storage, you know. In addition, the building has a second floor as well. What do you think it's used for? Oh yes, and the Pokeball symbol we saw above the entrance on the way in is meant to indicate that this is a gym."

Violet nodded. "I guess you have a point there."

The Doctor smiled. "Ah, it looks like the food's here."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Restaurant, January 3, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

The Doctor casually set down his cutlery after lunch and leaned back in his chair, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin before setting it in his lap again. "Well that was quite delectable. Check please."

Miri whispered to Rory. "The Doctor made us all room together in the Accumula Town Pokemon Center. He's not going to ditch us with the bill, is he? He did order their Supreme Lunch without realizing it at first."

Rory shrugged. "Nah, the Doctor's _not_ that sort of bloke. At least _I_ don't think so."

"That's _reassuring_." muttered Faye under her voice, just as Chili returned to the table with the group's bill. The Doctor looked at the slip of paper, shrugged, and reached for his wallet, paying for his and his companions' meals, before signing the bill under his John Smith psudeonym and returning it to Chili. "Wait, did he just pay for all of our meals?"

Rory chuckled. "Yep, he's definitely not that sort of bloke."

Nathen held out some money to the Time Lord. "You must let me pay you back."

But the Doctor was having none of it. "No, no, I insist. It's done. My treat."

"But come on..."

The Doctor's eyes became serious, as he was having none of that. "Just leave it at that or I'll get my Snivy to knock some sense into you. It's a favor, mate. Accept it."

Nathen sighed at the Time Lord's stubborness. "Alright, if you insist."

The Doctor beamed. _"Yep, he's definitely determined and stubborn like Allen was." _The Time Lord smiled as Chili returned with dinner mints and toothpicks, catching a glance at the container of sugar and artificial sweetener packets on the table. _"Lucky for me, the sugar and artificial sweetener are both from the same brand. It's a good thing that no one's watching me right now."_ Out of sight from his companions, the Doctor reached over and grabbed a brown packet of brown sugar, hiding it in his left hand, which gently cupped it. He rested the hand on the table, and drew their attention by beginning a conversation. "By the way, I've been doing some research. Did you all know that articifical sweetener is the second most common cause of aging in the world?" The Time Lord grabbed a pink packet of artificial sweetener from the container with his right hand and waved it in front of his companions.

"Okay, so what's the most common cause of aging then?" asked Violet.

The Doctor smiled. "Time."

The Time Lord's answer earned him several chuckles from his companions, while Amy rolled her eyes. "What a typical answer for the Doctor."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Trying to steal my thunder, Pond?"

"Oh please, I thought it was illegal to own weather."

The Time Lord chuckled awkwardly. "Very funny, Amy. Now where was I? Oh yes, Artificial sweetener. Did you also know that it's derived from real sugar? And I can make it revert back to its original form." _"They're all distracted by my talking. Excellent. I have them now." _The Doctor dropped the packet of artificial sweetener on the table. Reaching out with his right hand, the Time Lord covered the packet with his four fingers before quietly and deftly swiping it off the edge of the table into his lap, whist bringing the hand up, bending his thumb to give the impression that the packet was now held in his hand but out of sight. The back of his right hand now faced his companions. _"They think the packet of artificial sweetner is in my hand when it's actually in my lap. Guess I distracted them enough." _He raised his cupped left hand, still clutching the packet of brown sugar, and quickly opened it to meet his open right hand in a loud clap. _"Good, they don't know about the brown sugar packet in my left hand." _"And now, all it takes to start this process is simply rubbing my hands together." The Doctor rubbed his hands, creating a very audible noise as the sugar grains were rubbed against their paper packet. After a few seconds, he opened his hands and produced the brown sugar packet. "And there we go."

The Time Lord dropped the packet on the table, where it was immediately picked up by Amy. "Wow, it really is sugar. Guess that mind of yours has something up its sleeve, Doctor." The Time Lord smiled as the brown sugar packet was passed around the table. His companions clapped at the magic trick.

The Doctor then picked up his knife and wiped it with his cloth napkin, tilting the napkin slightly so that the artificial sweetener packet on his lap dropped to the floor, out of sight from his companions. "Why thank you, Pond. Now then, while we were in Accumula Town, there was this show which I saw at the Pokemon Center, about some guy in Fortree City in Hoenn who actually swallows swords. I'm sure you've all seen this sort of thing in the circus and such." The Doctor received several nods. "So I decided that I wanted to try that, but with this knife for practice." The Time Lord set his knife on the table. "I just need to mentally prepare myself and I'll roll up my sleeves to do it." He took a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves, exposing his bare arms. "And now here we go." The Doctor picked up the knife by the handle with his right hand. With its fingers together, he brought up his open left hand so that its back faced his companions, and pressed the front half of the knife to the fronts of his left middle and ring fingers, ensuring that it was covered by those fingers. The Doctor bent his left thumb inwards to hold the blade in place against his left middle and ring fingers. He removed his right hand from the knife and then brought his right middle and ring fingers in to cover the knife's back half. The tips of his right middle and ring fingers touched their counterparts on his left hand, completely concealing the knife from his companions' view. _"Good, now they can't see the knife."_ The Doctor bent his right thumb inwards to hold the handle in place against his right middle and ring fingers. He rested his hands, still holding the knife, against the edge of the table, over his lap. The Time Lord leaned in and made direct eye contact with his companions to distract them. "Now I'm just going to swallow it and ask you all to hold the applause, please."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Are you only too eager to kill yourself with that knife, Doctor?" The Time Lord smirked and gently relaxed his thumbs, dropping the knife into his lap. The action went unnoticed to his companions due to him still making eye contact with them. The formation of the Doctor's hands did not change.

_"Looks like mine and Amy's comments just now distracted them enough. That pause was essential. They still think I'm holding that knife when it's actually now on my lap." _"Well, let's see, Pond." With his hands still assuming their positions when the knife was held, the Doctor turned his head to the right, before rearing it back and opening his mouth wide, so the right side of his face now faced his companions. Still in their "knife holding" position, the Time Lord raised his hands so that his left wrist was now in front of his mouth and covering his right cheek. He was careful to ensure that the backs of his hands always faced his companions. The Doctor moved his hands down along his right cheek and gaping mouth. When the fingers of his right hand moved along his right cheek, the Time Lord quickly pressed his right palm against his mouth before closing it and swallowing. He moved his hands away from his face to show that the knife was gone. "Well, that was surprisingly easy going down. And that's sword swallowing for you."

Nathen's eyes widened. "D-Did you j-just _e-eat_ that knife?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yep. A good treat after lunch too, if I do say so myself."

Rory chuckled awkwardly. "So I suppose that knife is going on your bill as well, Doctor?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "I'll pay for it, like I paid for that towel rack I broke at the Accumula Town Pokemon Center, which you were partly responsible for, Pond."

Amy crossed her arms. "Well, _you_ broke it, Doctor."

"Yeah, I broke it because you thought some shadowy figure was me and decided to go outside. Ah well, it's all in the past now." Amy sighed while the Doctor tilted his napkin again, allowing the knife to fall discreetly to the floor, the carpet preventing it from making a noise upon impact. He removed the napkin from his lap and placed it on the table.

Reaching into his pocket, the Doctor pulled out a 100 Pokedollar coin and set it on the table as well. Finally, he grabbed the salt shaker. "Now here's a good one. I'll just tell you all what I'm going to do, supposedly a big no-no in magic. Now, I'm going to make this coin disappear." The Time Lord picked up the coin and placed it on the table, heads side up. "And to make it even harder, I'll put this salt shaker on top of it and then the napkin on top of the salt shaker." The Doctor did as he described, setting the salt shaker on top of the coin and using the napkin to cover the salt shaker. The Doctor wrapped his fingers around the napkin covered salt shaker. "Now, I'll make the coin disappear on three. 1, 2, 3." He lifted the salt shaker to reveal that the coin was still on the table. The Doctor held up the napkin covered salt shaker so that the bottom of the salt shaker was visible to his companions. _"Good. They can plainly see that the salt shaker is there in my hand. Now to fake that 'mistake'."_ The Time Lord looked baffled. "Oh sorry, my mistake. The coin is meant to be tails side up instead." Still holding the salt shaker, the Doctor picked up the coin and flipped it so that it was resting on the table tails side up. "Now let's try this again." He placed the salt shaker on top of the coin and immediately picked up the salt shaker again. "Oops. It's really, really supposed to be heads side up."

Amy snickered. "Sounds like you don't know how your own trick works, Doctor."

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut me some slack, Pond. Now then, heads side up." The Doctor picked up the coin with his left hand. While he was doing this, with his right hand, he subtly held the napkin covered salt shaker at the edge of the table, over his lap. The Time Lord gently relaxed the fingers of his right hand slightly, so that the salt shaker fell to the floor, where the sound it would have made being silenced by the carpet. _"Alternatively, I could have dropped the salt shaker in my lap instead of the floor, but since the floor was carpeted, it makes hiding the evidence easier."_ The napkin still maintained the shape it had when it was wrapped around the salt shaker. The Doctor placed the coin on the table with his left hand, heads side up. _"They're fixated on the coin and didn't notice me drop the salt shaker to the floor, just as I planned." _"Now let's do this one more time." With his right hand, he casually placed the now empty napkin on top of the coin. The Doctor lifted the napkin slightly to reveal the coin's presence on the table before placing the salt shaker-shaped napkin back on top of the coin. "Oh, my bad. This isn't the vanishing coin trick." The Time Lord brought his left hand above the napkin and flattened it. "_This_ is the vanishing salt shaker trick. And there we go. Thank you." The Doctor smiled as he reveled in the applause he received. Under the table, he kicked the artificial sweetener packet, knife, and salt shaker under his chair. _"There. No more evidence."_

"Not bad, Doctor." said Rory.

Amy sighed. "Trust him to show off like that. Now what did we come here for?"

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Oh yes, the gym battles." Raising his hand, the Doctor waved over Chili. "Say, acording to my Town Map, this is the Striaton Gym. So how do we get gym battles around here?"

Chili smiled. "Ah yes, you were nice about our ties **(1)**. Well, I'm glad to be of help then." Before anyone could figure out what Chili meant by his last sentence, the room darkened as he and the two other waiters walked over to the back of the room.

A spotlight shined down on the green haired waiter. "Alright then, I'll grant your request." Several of the girls in the room squealed, prompting Amy to cover her ears in annoyance.

A second spotlight shined down on Chili, who stood to the right of the green haired waiter. "So you were challengers. Then you will receive a welcome as pleasant and hot as the noon day sun!" Amy sighed as the girls squealed again.

A third spotlight shined down on the blue haird waiter, who stood at the green haired waiter's right. "No, I think we should be cool. Like a refreshing glass of water, chilled of course."

Amy groaned and bent her body forward at the sound of more squealing, resting her forehead against the table. "Urgh. Idiotic pious fangirls."

Miri nodded. "I agree, that is rather excessive."

The green haired waiter spoke. "This is the Striaton Gym."

"And the three of us..." said Chili.

"We're triplet brothers." continued the blue haired waiter.

All three waiters then spoke in unison. "And we're the gym leaders. Now it's showtime." The walls at the back of the restaurant slid away to reveal a pair of large orange doors. Walking through the doors brought the group to the gym's battlefield, which had several rocks jutting out of it. A balcony was constructed above the battlefield for spectators. The girls who were at the restaurant walked onto the balcony in orange cheerleading uniforms, carrying pink and blue pom-poms.

Amy massaged her temples. "Now they're cheerleaders? Sigh. Are all gyms this flashy?"

The Doctor chuckled. "I wonder who paid them to do that, or if they just simply idolize the gym leaders. Unusual situation by the way, three gym leaders in a single gym. And to answer your question, I don't believe so."

"Most gyms have just one leader then?" asked Rory.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

The green haired waiter stepped forward. "So, how many of you are challenging the Striaton Gym today? You may choose which of us to battle. Cilan the grass-type gym leader, which is me, Chili, who was your waiter today, he specializes in fire-types, or Cress, the water-type specialist." Cilan looked at the blue haired waiter, allowing the Doctor to identify him as Cress. "And if you're victorous against the gym leader you challenged, you will be awarded the Trio Badge."

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "Okay. Nathen, Violet, Faye, and I will be challenging this gym."

Chili smiled. "Four challengers, huh? That's quite a number. So how will you all challenge this gym?"

The Time Lord turned to his companions. "Alright, this is interesting. I wasn't expecting this gym to have three gym leaders, and therefore three dominant types, for that matter. Well, there's four of us challenging this gym, and I already said that I would have my battle last, so I'll likely go tomorrow. Probably best if the others faced one gym leader each, and we get three battles out of the way today."

Violet nodded. "So who's facing which gym leader?" The Doctor reached into his pocket and removed a sheet of paper, tearing it into six equally sized pieces. With a pen, he wrote a gym leader's name on three of the pieces, and a number one, two, or three on each of the other three pieces. He crumpled up each piece of paper into a ball and held the paper balls with the gym leaders' names in his right hand, and the balls with the numbers in his left hand. He opened his hands to reveal three paper balls in each hand.

"Alright, we'll just use Amy's idea. Each of you take a paper ball from each of my hands. The gym leader you get is the one you'll battle, and the numbers represent the order that you'll each have your battles." siad the Doctor.

The gym leaders waited as Nathen shrugged, doing as the Doctor had instructed. "Sounds good to me." The boy opened the balls he obtained. "Hmmm... Cilan and 1, so I'm up first then." Violet and Faye soon followed.

"I got Cress and 3, so that means you have Chili and 2, right Violet?" asked Faye.

Violet looked at her pieces of paper. "Yeah."

Cilan turned his back to the group and walked towards the battlefield, pausing briefly to talk. "Well, since you're battling me in a bit, Nathen, I suggest that you get ready." Nathen nodded.

Miri walked up to the boy and leaned in to his ear so she could whisper softly to him. "Good luck, Nathen." The boy blushed as the journalist winked at him before walking off in the direction of the balcony.

This did not escape the Doctor's notice or his hearing, and he smirked. "Let's leave the challenger here to his battle and get up there on that balcony then." Amy groaned at the thought of having to stand on the same balcony as several noisy cheerleaders before walking off to follow the Time Lord. The rest of the group soon followed.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Battlefield, January 3, 2011, 1 p.m.)_

Cress straightened his bow tie as he walked up to the edge of the battlefield's center in order to referee Nathen's battle against Cilan.

From his vantage point at the balcony, the Doctor leaned in to get a closer look. "Not bad, the gym leaders who aren't battling would referee their brothers' gym battles. Definitely saves this gym the cost of hiring an actual referee."

Cress took a deep breath. "The Striaton Gym battle between the challenger Nathen Pierce and the gym leader Cilan is about to commence. You'll both use two Pokemon, and when all the Pokemon on either side are unable to battle, the match is over. Futhermore, only the challenger is permitted to make any substitutions. Shall we begin?"

Cilan crossed his arms. "Let me see you express the flavor of the bonds growing like grass between you and your Pokemon."

Nathen reached for a Pokeball. "I'm sure you'll find it to be very intense."

Nathen: 2

Cilan: 2

Up on the balcony, Amy rolled her eyes. "The heck? Flavor? Who describe bonds that way?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Apparently, that's the job of a Pokemon Connoisseur, after that disciple of min-... I mean, that disciple of the White Prince wanted to make things more artistic."

"Fine. But no chairs up here? Not a good way to accomodate an audience."

Rory sighed. "Amy, if that's a problem, feel free to run down to the restaurant area and grab one. Actually, mind grabbing one for me?"

Amy crossed her arms and had a sly smile on her face. "I have a better idea. Why don't _you_ run down to the restaurant area and grab chairs for the both of us?" Rory sighed and ran off to comply with his wife's request, not wanting to miss too much of the battle.

"Whipped." muttered Violet.

"I totally agree." replied Faye.

Miri shushed both girls. "The battle's about to start."

The cheerleaders began to wave their pom-poms. "Come on Cilan, show us what we came to see!"

Cilan tossed his Pokeball. "Now meet your first opponent, Lillipup!" A Lillipup emerged from Cilan's Pokeball and landed on the battlefield with a confident look upon its face.

Nathen tossed his own Pokeball. "A Lillipup, huh? I guess I'll give this little one some practice. Come on out, Tepig." Nathen's Tepig stared down his opponent and snorted.

"Well, Nathen, you may have the first move." offered Cilan.

Nathen nodded. "Don't mind if I do, Cilan. Tepig, use Ember!" The Fire Pig Pokemon began by firing his stream of fire bolts from his snout at the Puppy Pokemon.

"Dodge it, Lillipup." The Puppy Pokemon casually sidestepped to the left, causing the Ember attack to harmlessly pass the space where it was standing a moment ago. "Now Lillipup, use Work Up." A crimson aura began to surround the Lillipup's body.

"Work Up increases a Pokemon's Attack and Special Attack stats, so Tepig, stop Lillipup from using Work Up with Tackle!" The Fire Pig Pokemon dashed forwards and initiated a full body tackle against Cilan's Lillipup, cancelling out its Work Up. "Now try for a close range Flame Charge!" Nathen's Tepig nodded and cloaked himself in fire, successfully slamming into the Lillipup. Cilan looked impressed.

"I see that your bond with Tepig is maturing well, but I still see more room for it to grow. Lillipup, while using Work Up, Bite." Glowing with a crimson aura, the Puppy Pokemon opened its mouth and bit down hard on Tepig, causing him to screech in pain. The Doctor cupped his chin.

"Two moves in a single action, one to boost the power of the other, not bad." Heaving slightly, Rory ran up onto the balcony, two chairs under his arms.

"Here are the chairs, and what did I miss?"

"Oh, not much. The battle has just started." replied Violet. Rory set down one of the chairs, which Amy took.

"Why, thank you, Rory." The woman leaned in and placed a deep kiss on her husband's cheek, causing him to blush slightly.

Faye smiled at the sight. "I guess those things are what makes relationships worth it, even if you are being whipped." Rory set down his own chair and took a seat next to his wife, letting himself relax from running up to the balcony. Miri looked longingly at Nathen while the Doctor gave the boy a contemplative glance.

_"Allan's determination really shines through with Nathen."_

"Tepig, you've got to shake Lillipup off! Try using Flame Charge!" ordered Nathen.

Cilan looked on calmly at his challenger. "Lillipup, disengage Tepig." The Puppy Pokemon jumped away from its opponent just as he cloaked himself in fire and began charging at it. "Now meet Tepig with Take Down." Cilan's Lillipup ran forward and slammed its body into Tepig, stopping his Flame Charge attack, and sending him skidding several meters down the battlefield. The cheerleaders squealed in glee at the successful hit, to Amy's annoyance.

Nathen looked alarmed. "TEPIG!"

"More fragrant grass needs to grow and flourish to nurture your bond with Tepig, Nathen. Lillipup, use Work Up again and follow it up with Bite." Lillipup's body took on a crimson aura before it ran towards the downed Tepig, intending to deal devastating damage.

"Quick, get away from Lillipup, Tepig!" The Fire Pig Pokemon nodded and leapt away from the approaching Lillipup, taking advantage of his increase in Speed from using Flame Charge to dodge the Puppy Pokemon's Bite attack. "Good, now get Lillipup with Ember!"

"Lillipup, Bite." Disregarding the fire bolts being shot at it from Nathen's Tepig, the Lillipup ran through the attack, shaking off any damage it received in the process. It opened its mouth and bit down hard on Tepig's snout, stopping it from firing any more fire bolts.

The Doctor looked impressed. "Taking damage itself in order to damage Nathen's Tepig. That Lillipup is bold."

Nathen's eyes widened. "Shake Lillipup off with a Tackle!" With Cilan's Lilipup still biting its snout, Tepig ran forward off the battlefield and slammed the Puppy Pokemon into the wall. The Lillipup's eyes widened at the sudden impact as it opened its mouth, unintentionally releasing its captive opponent. Tepig jumped backwards away from the Lillipup. "Now, use Ember!"

Cilan had a small smile on his face. "Ah, speeding like fast growing grass. Lillipup, dodge that Ember attack!" The Puppy Pokemon quickly regained its bearings and leapt away from the approaching stream of fire bolts. "Take Down!"

Nathen's eyes widened as the Lillipup approached his Tepig. "Protect yourself with Flame Charge, Tepig!" The Fire Pig Pokemon ran towards the Puppy Pokemon, his body ablaze. The two small Pokemon collided in an explosion that sent a large cloud of smoke billowing around the battlefield. Both Cilan and Nathen bit their lips as they waited for the smoke to clear. When it did, both Pokemon were still on the ground with swirly eyes.

Cress surveyed the scene. "Both Lillipup and Tepig are unable to battle. Therefore, this round is a draw."

The Doctor looked on. "Now they both have one Pokemon each. Nathen will have to win the next round in order to get a badge." Both Trainers withdrew their Pokemon.

"Thanks for all you've done Tepig, you deserve a nice, long rest." said Nathen.

"Well, you did your best, Lillipup. Now rest." said Cilan

Nathen: 1

Cilan: 1

The green haired Striaton gym leader held up his second Pokeball. "You've done well to defeat my Lillipup. Now I'll show you the culmination of a well-cultivated bond. Behold, Pansage." A toss of Cilan's Pokeball revealed a primate-like creature with large ears and a brocolli-like growth on its head. The upper half of its head and its lower body was green while the lower half of its face and its upper body was yellow. It had a wiry tail tipped with two leaves.

The Doctor stared at the Pokemon from the balcony. "A Pansage, eh? Interesting. I wonder if Cilan's triplet brothers have the other Pokemon in the family, since Chili is a fire-type specialist, and Cress, a water-type one."

Rory looked confused. "What do you mean by 'family'? In the same evolutionary line?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Close, but not quite, Rory. If my guess is correct, you'll see what I mean when you watch Violet and Faye's battles."

"Yeah, I'm wondering about that too." remarked Violet.

The Doctor stared down at the battlefield. "Oh look, it's starting."

Nathen took out his second Pokeball and tossed it. "Let's win this, Luxray!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon emerged and roared at the Grass Monkey Pokemon. "Start things off with Thunder Fang." Luxray charged at the Pansage, his fangs drawn, with yellow electricity sparking along them.

Cilan wagged his finger at his challenger. "Ah, charging in like that? I see a closed bud yet to blossom. Pansage, Seed Bomb." The Grass Monkey Pokemon opened its mouth and began firing multiple glowing white seeds from it in Luxray's direction.

"Dodge it, Luxray!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon ceased his attack and rolled to his right, enabling that the attack missed him.

But Cilan was not done. "Turn and continue with the attack, Pansage." The Grass Monkey Pokemon did as it was told, turning its head to follow Luxray's movements. Before long, Luxray found himself being pelted with seeds. "While Luxray's distracted by that, use Leech Seed, Pansage." Cilan's Pansage stopped its Seed Bomb and spat a single brown seed at Nathen's Luxray. The seed landed on the Gleam Eyes Pokemon's underside and sprouted vines which wrapped around him.

The Doctor whistled. "Ah, Leech Seed. It's a nasty and annoying little move."

"What does it do, apart from seemingly growing vines around the opponent?" asked Amy.

"As you saw, it sprouts vines around any opponent unlucky enought to be ensnared by it, but now, those vines will periodically sap energy from Luxray and transfer it to Pansage. That's one way Cilan is minimizing damage to his own Pokemon, albeit at Nathen's expense."

"That sounds underhanded."

The Doctor shrugged. "It's just the nature of some moves. Luxray could be cured of it if Nathen recalled him, but unfortunately, that option isn't avaliable to him." The Time Lord began to think. _"Allan was used to overcoming crippling difficulties himself, Nathen. Let's see how you manage."_

Miri looked concerned, muttering under her voice. "Come on, Nathen."

"Move in with Fury Swipes, Pansage." ordered Cilan. His Pokemon nodded and ran at Luxray, claws drawn from its hands.

Nathen bit his lip. "Hang in there, Luxray! Use Wild Charge!" Yellow electricity sparking around his fur, Luxray charged at his opponent as it swiped with its claws. Cilan's Pansage got in a few swipes with its claws, but was soon knocked aside by Luxray's attack. The Gleam Eyes Pokemon closed his eyes and shook his head slightly."

The Doctor whistled. "Ah, looks like Luxray hurt himself quite a bit. Like Take Down, Wild Charge makes the Pokemon that uses it take recoil damage equal to a quarter of the damage dealt to the opponent. Gutsy move, considering the health still being sapped from Luxray due to Pansage's Leech Seed."

"Luxray, follow it up with Thunder Fang!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon leapt a few meters towards Cilan's Pansage fangs sparking with electricity. Luxray reached the Grass Monkey Pokemon and bit down into its side, causing it the shriek in pain as electricity coursed through its body.

The cheerleaders were tense. "Keep fighting, Pansage. Hang in there!" Amy smirked at their worried expressions.

Cilan himself had a pensive expression. "Pansage, shake Luxray off with Seed Bomb!" The Grass Monkey Pokemon raised its head slightly and began spitting white seeds at its opponent, striking Luxray repeatedly on the forehead and eventually forcing him to let go.

Nathen looked determined. "That Leech Seed would weaken Luxray too much if this continues. Luxray, Thunder!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon leapt away from Cilan's Pansage and fired a large bolt of yellow electricity at the Grass Monkey Pokemon.

Cilan crossed his arms. "Pansage, dodge." The Grass Monkey Pokemon somersauted backwards as the bolt of electricity struck the ground where it previously stood, preventing itself from taking damage. "Now time for things to flourish, Bite." Pansage leapt over Luxray and landed behind the Gleam Eyes Pokemon, before jumping up and placing a well-aimed bite on Luxray's back, causing him to scream in pain.

"Thunder!" ordered Nathen. Luxray's fur sparked before a bolt of electricity erupted from his back, engulfing Pansage and dislodging it, sending the Grass Monkey Pokemon flying into the air. "Now Thunder Fang!" Luxray leapt into the air after his opponent, fang sparking with electricity as he bit Cilan's Pansage on its left leg.

Cilan's eyes widened. "Shake Luxray off with Seed Bomb, Pansage!" The Grass Monkey Pokemon began to pelt Luxray with white seeds, but the Gleam Eyes Pokemon would not relinquish his grip.

Nathen visibly tensed. "Now, finish it with Giga Impact, Luxray!" Luxray complied as orange streaks of energy surrounded him, followed by purple energy that enveloped his body. Holding his opponent in place, Luxray dived towards the battlefield and slammed into it hard, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. The dust cleared to reveal Nathen's Luxray, barely able to stand, while Cilan's Pansage was motionless with swirly eyes, evidently unconscious.

Nathen: 1

Cilan: 0

Cress cast a brief glance at both Pokemon. "Pansage is unable to battle. Luxray wins. And so the winner of this match is the challenger, Nathen Pierce." Nathen ran onto the battlefield to attend to his Pokemon, congratulating Luxray as he unwound the vines that wrapped the Gleam Eyes Pokemon.

Nathen recalled his Pokemon. "Great work, Luxray. Time for you to rest."

Cilan followed suit with his Pansage. "You battled well, Pansage. Let your body rest."

The cheerleaders were distraught. "Cilan lost? How could this have happened?"

Amy groaned. "Oh bother."

Cilan walked up to Nathen. "And so I've experienced a most flavorful battle. The bonds you have with your Pokemon, keep cultivating them."

Nathen bowed slightly. "Thank you."

"You'll get your badge after your friends have finished battling my brothers." Nathen nodded and walked towards the balcony. The Doctor gestured at Violet to head for the battlefield while Faye wished her friend luck just as Nathen emerged.

Miri beamed at the boy. "Congratulations, Nathen."

Nathen nodded. "Thanks, but my Pokemon should be getting the credit."

The Doctor smiled. "I think the credit belongs equally to you and your Pokemon, Nathen. They are quite strong. Now, let's watch Violet's battle."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Battlefield, January 3, 2011, 1:20 p.m.)_

Cilan took his turn to referee the next battle. "Attention! And now, for our next match, it's the challenger Violet Kinomoto against the gym leader Chili. Each side will use two Pokemon, and only the challenger can make substitutions. This match is over when both Pokemon on one side are unable to battle. Let's begin!"

Chili glanced at the girl who intended to challenge him. "Let's see if you can show me a scorching battle, Violet."

Violet nodded. "You got it, Chili."

Violet: 2

Chili: 2

Chili unclipped a Pokeball from his belt. "It's showtime! Now go, Lillipup!" He tossed the Pokeball, revealing a Puppy Pokemon like his brother's.

Amy stared at Chili's Pokemon. "Another Lillipup?"

"Yours isn't the only one in the world, Pond." remarked the Doctor.

Amy huffed. "I know that, but can't they show variety? What, Cress has a Lillipup too? Triplets don't necessarily have to share everything, you know. That's cliche."

The Time Lord chuckled. "That may very well be the case. You never know."

The cheerleaders began to chant. "Fight hard and win, Chili! You can do it!"

Amy turned to the Doctor. "Could you make them, I dunno, disappear by any chance?"

The Time Lord smirked. "What, they're getting on your nerves, Amy?"

"I though that was fairly obvious. I don't think I can stand another two battles with their chanting."

Violet took out a Pokeball and hurled it. "Alright then, you're up, Demon." Violet's Lucario emerged from his Pokeball.

"A strong start, with an advantage off the boot too." commented the Doctor.

Chili kept a calm face. "You may start, Violet."

Violet nodded. "Gladly. Demon, start things off with Aura Sphere!" The Lucario created a cobalt-blue sphere of energy bewteen his paws and fired it at Chili's Lillipup.

"Lillipup, use Take Down!" Seemingly apathetic towards the attack about to hit it, the Puppy Pokemon charged at it head-on and collided with the Aura Sphere. Despite taking the hit, Chili's Lillipup continued to run at Demon, slamming into his torso with Take Down, causing the Aura Pokemon to stumble and hit the ground on his back. "My Lillipup's bite is worst than its bark, Violet. Allow me to demonstrate with Bite!" Lillipup leapt from Demon's torso and bit down on the Lucario's left paw, causing him to groan in pain.

Violet's eyes widened. "Shake it off with Close Combat, Demon!" Getting up off the ground, the Lucario began to viciously punch and kick the Lillipup, but the Puppy Pokemon's grip would not slacken.

Chili smirked. "Time to heat things up with Tackle!" Mouth still biting the Lucario's hand, his Lillipup surged forward, and tackled Demon in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground again. "Use Work Up." Chili's Lillipup leapt away from Demon and a crimson aura surrounded it. "Now Tackle." The Lillipup moved to engage the Lucario again.

Violet wasted no time in issuing a command. "Demon, use Focus Blast!" Quickly getting to his feet, a light blue sphere of energy appeared between the Lucario's paws, and he flung it at Chili's Lillipup.

"Dodge it!" ordered Chili. His Lillipup nodded and leapt above the sphere's trajectory, causing the attack to pass harmlessly under it. "Show your passion! Continue with Tackle, Lillipup!" The Puppy Pokemon did as it was told, and landed a full body tackle right into the Lucario's head, sending him off balance. Demon waved his arms wildly and he tripped on a small stone, falling on his back a third time. Chili's Lillipup landed gracefully on the battlefield a few meters in front of the fallen Lucario.

Faye sighed. "Violet and Demon are really being toyed with."

Nathen looked intently at the battle underway. "Well, that just proves Chili has prepared for opponents such as Demon."

"Keep fighting all the way! Win! Win! Win!" cheered the cheerleaders.

Amy glared at the cheerleaders. "Blimey, do they ever stop waving those stupid pom-poms?"

Rory rubbed his temples. "Amy, they're cheerleaders. That's their job."

The nurse's comment earned him a sharp look from his wife. "What, you're on their side now?"

"No, dear."

Miri briefly stopped taking notes on the battle. "Amy, cut Rory some slack. It was just a comment." The Scottish woman rolled her eyes.

Violet gritted her teeth. "Time to turn things around! Demon, Aura Sphere!" The Lucario nodded and hastily stood up, firing his attack at the Puppy Pokemon. Being an unavoidable attack, the Aura Sphere quickly sought out and nailed its intended target, being super effective against it. A loud yelp was heard from Chili's Lillipup. "Yes!" Everyone quickly saw a small but deep crater on the battlefield where Lillipup had been standing, with the Puppy Pokemon lying in the center of it, out cold.

Cilan nodded. "Lillipup is unable to battle. Lucario wins."

Chili let out a small chuckle. "Well, it looks like we fizzled out there, eh Lillipup? Return and take a nice rest." The red haired Striaton gym leader held out his Lillipup's Pokeball and recalled the Puppy Pokemon.

Violet: 2

Chili: 1

"Alright, I'll stick with Demon here." said Violet.

Chili held up his second Pokeball. "Your Lucario is impressive, but how will it hold up against the searing spirit of my Pansear?" He hurled the Pokeball to release his Pokemon. It was a primate-like creature with large ears and a large whorled scruff on its head. The upper half of its head and its lower body was red while the lower half of its face and its upper body was yellow. It had a wiry tail tipped with a feature shaped like an arrowhead.

Rory became more attentive at the sight of the Pansear. "Hey, that Pokemon, Pansear was it? Well, it looks really similar to that Pansage Cilan used. It even has a similar name."

The Doctor nodded. "It does. Looks like my theory's right so far."

"The same 'family'?"

"Yeah. Now to see if Cress over there has the third associated Pokemon."

"We're not going to get an answer about what you're talking about until Faye's battle, huh Doctor?" asked Amy. The Doctor simply smiled.

Nathen shrugged. "I know what the Doctor's getting at, but I think I'll let him explain."

The Time Lord clicked his fingers. "Keep up the suspense. I like that." Rory and Amy rolled their eyes.

Amy huffed. "At least the Doctor's silence is better than those cheerleaders and their screechy cheering."

Violet quickly issued her Pokemon an order against his new opponent. "Demon, use Aura Sphere." The Lucario complied by createing a cobalt-blue sphere of energy between his paws and firing it.

Chili shugged. "Incinerate the attack with Flame Burst." Pansear's took on a red glow as it crossed its arms over its chest. The High Temp Pokemon uncrossed its arm with a shout and an firey red outline of its body shot forward, meeting the Aura Sphere and causing it to explode.

The Doctor nodded. "Even unavoidable attacks like Aura Sphere are prone to being negated if they meet a strong enough attack to oppose them, like that Flame Burst."

Violet crossed her arms. "Demon, use Close Combat!" The Lucario rushed towards the Pansear.

Chili smirked. "Dodge, Pansear!" The Aura Pokemon's attempts to punch and kick Chili's Pansear were negated by the nimble High Temp Pokemon, who kept jumping out of the way from every move thrown by Demon.

"Pansear's close to you, Demon! Use Giga Impact!" The Lucario became enveloped in purple energy surrounded by orange streaks of energy as he charged towards the High Temp Pokemon.

"Try this on for size! Use Yawn, Pansear!" Opening its mouth, Chili's Pansear let out a yawn, releasing a large red bubble from its mouth. The bubble floated towards the approaching Lucario and popped upon contact with him, though it did not stop him. "Now dodge." The High Temp Pokemon leapt over Demon, just as his attack suddenly veered towards one of the battlefield's jutting rocks. The Aura Pokemon collided with the rock and flopped to the ground.

"Oh no!"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "What, was Demon drunk or something? He just crashed into a rock like that."

The Doctor had a contemplative expression. "No surprise there. Yawn is a move that eventually puts the opponent to sleep if it hits. Until that happens, the opponent becomes very sluggish and lethargic. I guess Demon's drowziness affected where his attack went. To add to his problems, he can't move for a while due to using Giga Impact."

Chili capitalized on the opportunity. "Pansear, use Bite, then Fury Swipes, and finish it up with Flame Burst!" The High Temp Pokemon leapt over to the downed Lucario and bit down on the back of his cranium, holding him in place. Glowing white claws sticking out from its paws, Pansear raked them across Demon's back a few times before wrapping his limbs around the Aura Pokemon. The High Temp Pokemon glowed red as a large amount of fire shot out from it, engulfing both Pokemon. Pansear leapt away a second later as flames continued to lick at Demon's body. They soon died out to reveal Demon, very much unconscious.

Cilan nodded. "Lucario is unable to battle and the winner is Pansear."

The cheerleaders waved their pom-poms, much to Amy's annoyance. "Keep going Chili!"

Violet recalled her Lucario. "You fought really hard, Demon. Thank you."

Violet: 1

Chili: 1

Chili congratulated his Pokemon. "Alright, Pansear. Let's keep turning up the heat."

Violet reached for her second Pokeball and hurled it. "You're up, Star!" A Togekiss emerged. "Now, Star, use Air Slash!" The Togekiss lifted a wing and waved it around, swirling several streaks of air into a ball above the tip of the wing. She flung the ball at Chili's Pansear. The ball of air blew rapidly towards its target and successfully struck it, knocking Pansear off balance onto its back. "Now get ready to use Sky Attack!" Star's body began to glow silver.

"Pansear, heat things up with Flame Burst! The High Temp Pokemon didn't appear to react. "What?"

"They really should stop pilfering my line." muttered the Doctor.

The cheerleaders chanted. "Go, Chili, win this match nice and easy!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Damn, those cheerleaders are loud. Speaking of the line, did you copyright it, Doctor?" The Time Lord sighed.

"It seems like Air Slash caused Pansear to flinch." commented Miri.

Faye nodded. "Yeah, and Star's ability is Serene Grace, so the secondary effects of moves like that are twice as likely to occur. Since Pansear is now flinching, that buys Star some time, since Sky Attack needs a short while to charge." As Faye finished talking, Star shot forward like a missile towards her opponent. Just as the Pansear got to its feet, the Togekiss slammed into it.

Chili gritted his teeth. "Get on Star's back, Pansear! And then use Bite!" The Pansear nodded and somersauted onto the Togekiss' back, before opening its mouth and biting down hard on the Jubilee Pokemon's right wing, causing Star to shriek in pain.

Violet was desperate. "Shake Pansear off, Star!" The Togekiss began wildly flapping the bitten wing, but did not manage to dislodge the Pansear.

"Flame Burst!" The Pansear glowed red and both Pokemon were engulfed in red flames erupting from its body. Star swung her wing hard and succeeded in dislodging the High Temp Pokemon, flinging it several meters away.

"Star, use Air Slash now!" With a few quick waves of her wing, Star created a ball of air she flung after the Pansear. The High Temp Pokemon slammed into one of the battlefield's rocks as the Air Slash attack struck it. "Now use ExtremeSpeed!" Surrounded in a white and clear aura, the Togekiss rushed at the Pansear at a blindingly fast speed.

"Simmer Star down with Yawn, Pansear!" The Pansear yawned and sent a red bubble at the Jubilee Pokemon which made contact and popped, but Star kept on her course and slammed into the High Temp Pokemon, destroying the rock it was pinned against. Star continued to fly towards a wall, the Pansear draped over her front. "Flame Burst!" Chili's Pansear glowed red and fire erupted from its frame, but Star kept flying, eventually hitting the High Temp Pokemon into the wall. The Togekiss flew away from the Pansear she had slammed into the wall, and it slid down the smooth surface, flopping on the ground with swirly eyes.

Violet: 1

Chili: 0

Cilan straightened his bow tie. "Pansear is unable to battle, and the winner is Togekiss. Therefore, the winner of this match is the challenger Violet Kinomoto." Violet's Togekiss let out a sigh of relief before Pansear's Yawn took effect, as she laid down on her side and fell asleep.

Violet shook her head in amusement and held out Star's Pokeball, recalling her. "Return, Star. You need your rest."

Chili recalled his Pansear. "Well, you did your best, Pansear. Rest."

The cheerleaders groaned in disappointment over watching another of their idols lose, which garnered a smug look from Amy.

Miri stared at Faye. "Well, I guess you're up, Faye. Good luck." The girl nodded and walked off in preparation to face Cress.

Chili turned to face Violet. "I sense firey passion burning from within you and your Pokemon. Never let it die out."

Violet smiled. "Thank you very much!"

"After Cress' battle, you and Nathen will receive your gym badges."

Violet headed for the balcony, passing Faye. The girls shared a smile before walking off in opposite directions.

The Doctor beamed as Violet appeared on the balcony. "Well now, you and your Pokemon did their best, and look where it got you. One battle to go now."

Violet nodded. "Let's hope Faye wins."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Battlefield, January 3, 2011, 1:35 p.m.)_

Chili straightened his bow tie and crossed his arms, poised to referee the Striaton Gym's third match of the day. "Well then, it's time for our third and final match of the day, and this time, the challenger Faye Anderson will be facing the gym leader Cress. Two Pokemon will be used the by both of you. Substitutions are only allowed by the challenger, and the match ends when the two Pokemon on either side are unable to battle. And now, begin!"

Cress gave Faye a glance. "As the waves flow smoothly on the shore, I hope your Pokemon can adapt to change like the quickly shifting sea."

Faye reached for a Pokeball. "Sure they can."

Faye: 2

Cress: 2

Cress nodded. "We'll see then. For now, it's time to start things off with my Lillipup." Cress' Puppy Pokemon emerged and gave Faye a long glance.

"They all have a Lillipup..." muttered Amy.

The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah, I was kinda expecting that, to be honest with you, Amy."

Faye tossed her own Pokeball in response. "Let's do this, Kallik." Faye's Eevee appeared on the battlefield.

"The first move is yours." offered Cress.

"How nice of you, Cress. Kallik, use Shadow Ball and then Dig to start." The Eevee opened her mouth and created a black and purple ball of energy, which it fired at the Lillipup before digging a hole and disappering under the ground.

"Lillipup, dodge like the smooth waves of the ocean." The Puppy Pokemon sidestepped to the right, avoiding the Shadow Ball. "That Shadow Ball was a distraction, now try and sense Kallik's movements." The Lillipup's eyes searched the battlefield before they widened. It leapt into the air, just as Kallik surfaced underneath. "Use Tackle then." Cress' Lillipup shot itself straight down towards the Eevee, using its downward drop to build momentum as it tackled the Evolution Pokemon straight down into the hole she had just emerged from.

"Kallik, get out there and use Iron Tail!" The ground in front of Cress' Lillipup shifted as the Eevee leapt out throught the newly-formed hole. Her tail glowing white, Kallik swung it like a baseball bat and whacked the Puppy Pokemon across the face with it. "Use Iron Tail again!" Kallik's tail glowed white in preparation for another attack on the Lillipup.

"Intercept with Bite." Just as the Eevee's tail was about to make contact with Lillipup's face again, the Puppy Pokemon opened its mouth and caught the tail in a bite, cancelling Kallik's attack. "Now use Work Up and Take Down, if you please." Fangs still clenched tightly around the Eevee's tail, the Lillipup had a crimson aura surround it, as it ran forward towards one of the battlefield's rocks, slamming Kallik's small frame against it.

"Go, Cress, go! Put on a winning show!" chanted the cheerleaders.

Amy muttered under her breath. "I feel like chucking something at them..."

Faye gasped. "Come on Kallik, use Shadow Ball!" The Eevee opened its mouth and fired a black and purple ball at her opponent, successfully hitting it and forcing it to relinquish its grip on her tail. "Now follow it up with Quick Attack!" The Evolution Pokemon lunged at the Puppy Pokemon at a blindingly fast speed, knocking it aside.

Cress was quick to react. "Alright, Lillipup, use Work Up." His Lillipup glowed with a crimson aura. "And now, execute Bite one more time." The Puppy Pokemon ran forwards and bared its fangs, biting down into Kallik's right side. The Evolution Pokemon shrieked in pain. "Now let things take their natural flow with Take Down!" Lillipup flung Kallik aside before charging at her.

"D-Dodge it!" Kallik attempted to follow the order, but Cress' Lillipup caught up to and rammed into her, sending her skidding off the battlefield into a wall. Kallik screamed as her back made contact with the wall, before she fell forward onto the ground with swirly eyes.

Chili gave the unconscious Evolution Pokemon a brief look. "Eevee is unable to battle. Lillipup wins."

Faye recalled her Eevee. "It's time for you to rest, Kallik." The girl removed a second Pokeball from her belt.

Faye: 1

Cress: 2

Cress crossed his arms. "So, who's your second Pokemon?"

"I'll show you. Let's go, Flare!" Faye tossed her Pokeball and sent out her Typhlosion. "Now Flare, use Fire Blast!" Flare did as he was told, firing red flames from his mouth which shaped themselves into the kanji for big, 大. The flames headed straight for the Lillipup.

"Quick, dodge, Lillipup!" The Puppy Pokemon tried to follow its Trainer's command, but was unable to evade the flames in time, resulting in a successful hit on Flare's part. "Very well, go with the flow and use Tackle!" The Lillipup ran at the Typhlosion, knocking into his frame with Tackle, and sending him sliding on his feet for a few meters.

"Keep going, Flare, use Flame Wheel!" The Typhlosion was engulfed with flames as he ran at the Lillipup in a rolling tackle.

"Lillipup, dodge it!" The Lillipup ran from the attack as Flare followed it in hot pursuit.

"Looks like Faye now has Cress playing defense." remarked the Doctor. The Flame Wheel continued to chase the Puppy Pokemon, eventually gaining on it and knocking it into the air.

Cress brushed some of his hair aside. "Lillipup, reorient yourself and use Take Down!" While in the air, the Lillipup turned its body to face the rolling Typhlosion as his attack stopped. It then shot down towards the Volcano Pokemon with the intent of nailing him with its attack.

But Faye was having none of it. "Oh no you don't! Flare, Lillipup's right behind you! Use Fire Blast!" With his back turned towards his opponent, Flare swung the top half of his body to face the oncoming Lillipup. With a smirk, he fired off flames which shaped themselves into the form of the kanji for big, 大, right into the Puppy Pokemon's trajectory. With no way to dodge those flames, Cress' Lillipup was forced to dive straight into them, thought that ordeal did not deter it from landing its Take Down attack on Flare. Once it did so however, it fell onto the battlefield with swirly eyes.

Chili nodded. "Lillipup is unable to battle, and the winner is Typhlosion."

Violet looked on. "I guess the recoil damage from using Take Down one too many times eventually knocked out Cress' Lillipup.

The blue haired Striaton gym leader recalled his Lillipup. "You've done well, Lillipup. Reward your efforts in battle with a nice rest."

Faye: 1

Cress: 1

Violet smiled. "Faye's in good form now, though she would now be at a disadvantage if Cress were to send out a water-type Pokemon next. And that's almost a certainty, since he is a water-type gym leader."

The Doctor chuckled. "Type match-ups aren't always everything."

"Indeed, Doctor." said Nathen.

Cress held up his second Pokeball. "Flow like the waves, Panpour, and prove to the challenger that we are not lacking." He hurled the Pokeball, which opened to reveal a primate-like creature with large ears and a puffy, wave-like feature on its head. The upper half of its head as well as its neck, shoulders, and the end of its tail was blue while the lower half of its face and its body was yellow. It had a wiry tail tipped with a clover leaf shape.

The Doctor nodded. "It appears that my asssumption was entirely correct after all. All three Striaton gym leaders each have an elemental monkey."

Rory looked at the Doctor. "I would assume that they are all related? They share a basic body shape and have similar names."

"Indeed. Pokemon researchers have discovered that Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour are all descended from a common ancestral species, which accounts for their similarities. Their habitats in the Pinwheel Forest and Lostlorn Forest also overlap each other, so they evolved into different species in the same areas."

"So that's what you mean by them being 'family', Doctor." said Rory.

Miri perked up. "I read about that discovery in the news once."

"Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour. They all sound like badly conceived stage names for the members of a rock band." muttered Amy.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well Pond, they all evolve once each."

"Let me guess, the evolutions all have names with a common beginning, and keep their pre-evolutions' suffixes?"

"Good guess. Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour evolve into Simisage, Simisear, and Simipour, respectively."

Amy rolled her eyes. "What odd names."

"Like I've said before, Pond. Your own planet has animals whose names would be considered queer by the people of other worlds. You should show some tolerance towards the names of Pokemon."

Amy sighed. "Fine."

The cheerleaders began to cheer again. "You can do it, Cress! Yes you can!"

Faye issued an order. "Flare, use Flamethrower." The Typhlosion shot a red-orange stream of fire at the Panpour.

Cress crossed his arms. "Panpour, use Scald." The Spray Pokemon fired a stream of boiling hot water from its mouth. The two attacks met each other and turned to steam.

The Doctor whistled. "Ah, Scald. The only water-type move that can _burn_ the opponent. Rather unique in that regard, I'll say."

"Panpour, keep things flowing with Water Sport." The Spray Pokemon spat water all over the battlefield, cutting the damage dealt by fire-type moves in half. "Now get Flare with Fury Swipes." White claws drawn from its paws, Panpour ran at Flare and began to viciously slash at various parts of his body.

"Flare, use Lava Plume to get rid of Panpour!" An explosion erupted from the ground around Flare and Panpour, as smog and flames covered the area. Flames from the explosion pelted the Panpour, forcing it to back away from the Typhlosion. "Fire Blast!" Flare shot off flames shaped like the 大 kanji, which struck Cress' Panpour as it attempted to retreat.

"Panpour, retaliate with Scald!" The Spray Pokemon's stream of boiling hot water rushed towards the Typhlosion and struck him, but the Volcano Pokemon simply shook off the effects of being hit by the super effective move.

"Flare, use Flame Wheel." The Typhlosion began to run at the Panpour before engulfing himself in flames that rolled across the battlefield.

"Dodge, Panpour!" The Panpour attempted to leap away from the Volcano Pokemon's attack, but failed and found itself pinned to the front of the Flame Wheel as it continued to roll forward.

"Now, toss it!" A sudden jerking movment of the attack flung the Spray Pokemon backwards into the air. "Keep up the attack and go after Panpour!" Flare moved in the direction of the falling Panpour and timed to rolling Flame Wheel to match up with where Panpour landed. The Spray Pokemon landed on the ground in front of the rolling Typhlosion, whereupon it was rolled over by the Volcano Pokemon. The attack did not stop, however, as Flare backed up and rolled over Panpour again, before doing this two more times.

"Panpour, use Scald!" The Spray Pokemon got up and shot a stream of boiling hot water from its mouth at the Typhlosion, who was closing in to strike it a fifth time with Flame Wheel. The attack struck the Volcano Pokmeon and forced him to stop using Flame Wheel. "Get in there with Bite!" The Panpour bared ts fangs and rushed at Flare, chomping down on his left leg. Flare groaned in pain as the action forced his unbitten leg down on its knee. "Now, follow things up with Scald!" Cress' Panpour released its mouth's grip on Flare's leg, firing its attack at the Typhlosion's chin, forcing his head straight up.

"Flame Wheel again, Flare!" With a quick movement, Faye's Typhlosion wrapped his arms around the Panpour which was assualting him, and rolled down the battlefield, engulfing himself in fire. The Typhlosion rolled onto one of the battlefield's rocks and launched himself a few meters into the air. The flames dispersed to reveal Flare clutching a Panpour with scorch marks all over its body. Grabbing Cress' Panpour by its tail with his left arm, Flare flung it down to the ground. No sooner had the Spray Pokemon made contact with the rocky battlefield that Flare landed directly on top of it, forcing it down with his body weight. The Volcano Pokemon slowly picked himself up and dusted his body off. At his feet was an unconscious Panpour with swirly eyes.

Faye: 1

Cress: 0

Chili shrugged. "Panpour is unable to battle. Typhlosion wins. The winner of this match is the challenger Faye Anderson." Faye and her Typhlosion breathed sighs of relief as Flare slumped onto the battlefield in exhaustion.

Faye recalled her Typhlosion. "You were completely awesome, Flare. Thanks for your hard work."

Cress did likewise with his fainted Panpour. "We didn't win, but I hope you enjoyed this battle as much as I had. Thank you, Panpour."

The cheerleader frowned in frustration at Cress' loss as they left the balcony without saying a word.

Amy glared at their retreating backs. "If I have to hear those cheerleaders any longer, I think heads will roll."

Rory shrugged. "Don't forget that the Doctor has his battle tomorrow."

"Urgh, good point. Should I bring earplugs?"

"The cheerleaders are just across the balcony from you, so I doubt they'll be very effective. Besides, how will you hear what the Doctor is saying?" Amy groaned and massaged her temples at her husband's valid point.

Cress smiled at Faye. "That was one battle with lots of taste. You and your Pokemon are as adaptable as the smoothly fowing stream. I hope that you'll all continue to persevere as you strive to reach the vast ocean."

Faye nodded. "Thank you Cress."

"Well, shall we all go and join Faye on the battlefield?" asked Violet. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

The three Striaton gym leaders walked forward, just as the others walked onto the battlefield to join Faye.

The Doctor beamed. "Well, congratulations, Faye. I'd say that your Pokemon battled just as hard as the others." Faye nodded with a smile. The group noticed that each gym leader was holding a blue hexagonal container. Each container had a red piece of cloth in it. Lying on the cloth was a metal badge shaped like a jagged ear of corn, with a blue, red, and green kernel. The badge was outlined in yellow.

Cilan spoke. "Here it is, the Trio Badge, proof of your victory at the Striaton Gym. Please take it." Nathen, Violet, and Faye walked towards their respective gym leaders and collected their badges, thanking them in the process.

The Doctor nodded. "Well now, shall we be off? I have _a battle_ to prepare for tomorrow."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, January 4, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

After the group had lunch again at the Striaton Gym's restaurant, they stepped forward onto the battlefield.

Miri turned to Rory and Amy. "So, any idea which gym leader the Doctor will be challenging?

Rory scratched his head. "Come to think about it, no. He didn't say."

Amy muttered under her breath. "Knowing him, he'll want to show off somehow. But no, I also have no clue who he'll be challenging."

"Well, whoever it is, we're all here to support him, just like he supported us." said Nathen.

"That's right. At least he didn't make a scene at the restaurant today. I think he proved his point." replied Violet.

Faye looked forward at the Doctor who was in front, back turned towards his companions. "Oh look, he's about to make his decision."

The Time Lord stared at the three Striaton gym leaders, who had assembled in a line in front of him.

"So, have you decided who you'll challenge today? You were very nice generous with your compliments about out bow ties yesterday. Thanks." said Chili.

The Doctor smiled. "No problem. If you all don't mind, I think I would like to battle all three of you." His companions widened their eyes in surprise.

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I hope that chapter makes up for the mess which I believe the last chapter to be. The three tricks performed by the Doctor can easily be done at the dinner table with practice. I do them once in a while to entertain others. Looks like this chapter's glossary has only one reference then.

(1) This is a reference to a line by an art expert in the episode "Vincent and the Doctor", after the Time Lord complimented him on his bow tie, which was at least twice as large as his own.

Alright, I'm still taking OCs, if anyone is interested. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Faye Lillian Anderson belongs to Prism Fire.**

**Violet Kinomoto belongs to Miss Kiko.**


	14. Challenging All That One Faces!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." _- George S. Patton

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 14: Challenging All That One Faces!**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Battlefield, January 4, 2011, 12:35 p.m.)_

A stunned silence permeated the Striaton Gym until Miri decided to break it. "D-Did t-the D-Doctor just c-challenge all t-three gym leaders to b-battles?"

Rory nodded. "That would appear to be the case."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Trust the Doctor to want to show off and overdo things in the process..."

Cilan chuckled. "Well, this is an interesting situation, to say the least. I don't believe anyone has ever made such a request. You're either really confident in your abilities, really eager for a challenge, or really ambitious in seeking goals."

The Doctor chuckled in return. "Actually, I prefer to see myself as really crazy."

"That's a _rather unique _way to view yourself." commented Chili.

The Time Lord smiled. "Thank you. But that's beside the point. The joy of being a Pokemon Trainer is to battle as many opponents as you can, is it not? Everyone mutually becomes stronger because of it."

Cress nodded calmly. "You have a point there. Battling is what we're all meant to do, so why not?" The other two gym leaders nodded in agreement. "Alright, how does it sound if you win the badge by winning two out of three matches? We'll make them all one-on-one matches to be fair, since you have three Pokemon."

The Doctor beamed. "I'd like that, thank you."

As the Time Lord's companions walked towards the balcony, Amy began to mutter to herself. "Will the Doctor win? Or will he embarrass himself out there? Hmmm..."

"Lacking faith in him, Amy?" asked Rory.

"Oh, I have faith in the Doctor, but I also want to see how badly he screws this up for himself. Or in the chance that he doesn't, then that's good for him and us. He won't have to waste his time and ours in obtaining a rematch, in which case he will likely challenge them all again, I suppose..." Amy's voice trailed off. "Which means I'll have to put up with those cheerleaders again... Oh, the Doctor had _better_ win this and get a badge."

Faye's face bore a thoughtful expression. "Maybe challenging all three gym leaders on the Doctor's part wasn't such a bad idea. I'm guessing that's why he choose to take his turn at this gym last. So he could elect to take this choice, which is rather sneaky of him, I have to admit."

"How is it not a bad idea? He now has to do extra work to get a badge." asked Amy.

Nathen spoke up. "Well, for one, more of his Pokemon would gain experience and grow stronger from facing all the gym leaders as opposed to just one of them. I think that the Doctor was on to something when he issued that challenge. I can't speak for anyone else, but I think battling all three gym leaders might have been a great opportunity."

"Well, you may think so, I just prefer to get things over with by battling just one of them." muttered Violet.

"Different strokes for different folks, eh?"

"As long as we all get a badge from it."

"Can't argue with that logic either, I guess."

Amy sighed as she saw the cheerleaders enter the balcony. "Oh bother, it's the pious squad again."

Miri took out her notepad. "Well, the Doctor has a nice set-up in terms of Pokemon."

Rory scratched his head. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Rory. He has a Snivy, a Tepig, and an Oshawott, which are all the same types as the dominant types of this gym. And each starter Pokemon type has an advantage against another and a disadvantage against the third. The matches he's having are all one-on-ones, so he already knows that the gym leaders will use their elemental monkeys. With that knowledge, he can easily select a Pokemon with an advantage over the gym leader he's facing, and due to the interrelated type advantage and disadvantage each starter Pokemon type has against the others, he has an appropriate counter against each gym leader. In addition, since he's going last, he already saw how Cilan, Chili, and Cress battles, as well as the moves of their Pokemon, which is already a significant advantage in itself. I can tell that he did some thinking in that regard."

"Well, when you put it that way, I suppose so. But I doubt that the Doctor will always send out the Pokemon that has an advantage against the gym leader he's facing."

"Why not? That would be a waste of his advantages!"

"He wants to do things differently, be unexpected, which is probably why he challenged all three gym leaders to begin with."

Faye shrugged. "Then again, most gym leaders usually prepare strategies against challengers' Pokemon that have type advantages over theirs. Conversely, some gym leaders do tend to get rather complacent when it comes to type match-ups. Such gym leaders don't really prepare their Pokemon to face challengers' Pokemon who have a type _disadvantage_ against theirs. They simply assume that no challenger would be '_stupid_' enough to actually use a Pokemon with a disadvantage. In theory, a challenger could exploit that and catch an unprepared gym leader off guard by making such a choice of Pokemon, and of course, good strategy."

Amy sighed. "Just watch, and expect the Doctor to do something that most people would consider _to be utterly stupid_. Just get those chairs, Rory." The nurse let out a short sigh before dashing off to the restaurant area.

Nathen crossed his arms. "We'll see. The Doctor's first match is starting now."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, Battlefield, January 4, 2011, 12:45 p.m.)_

The Doctor: 0-0-0

Chili stood on the edge of the battlefield's center, surveying the Doctor and Cress. "And now, today's first battle at the Striaton Gym between the challenger, the Doctor, gosh that was awkward to say, and the gym leader Cress is about to begin. You'll each use one Pokemon. As soon as one Pokemon is unable to battle, this match will end. Are you ready?"

The Doctor raised a finger. "Uh, hold on a minute." The gym leaders gave the Time Lord confused looks. Shrugging, the Doctor took a quick glance at the balcony to see Rory walking in, carrying two chairs like he did the day before. "Ok, now I'm ready."

"Well, that was considerate." said Faye.

Chili shrugged. "Okay then, now begin!"

Cress took a Pokeball in hand. "Here's the Pokemon I'll be using. Make a splash!" The blue haired Striaton gym leader tossed his Pokeball, sending out his Panpour. The Doctor wordlessly sent out his Oshawott.

Miri raised an eyebrow. "Oshawott? Snivy would have been a better option, and she's quite strong, probably the strongest of the Doctor's Pokemon."

Nathen shrugged. "Knowing that, he probably wants to save Snivy for a different match."

"You may have the first attack." offered Cress.

The Doctor scratched his head. "Hmmm... Normally, I make that offer, but okay. Oshawott, use Tackle." The Sea Otter Pokemon ran at the Spray Pokemon in hopes of engaging it in a tackle.

"Panpour, dodge like the shifting stream." Cress' Panpour casually sidestepped Oshawott, causing him to stumble slightly as the target he sought was no longer present in that spot. "Now, use Scald." The Panpour fired a stream of boiling hot water at Oshawott's back, causing him to yelp at the heat which was unexpected for a typical water-type attack.

The Time Lord visibly tensed. "Razor Shell, Oshawott!" The Sea Otter Pokemon detached the scalchop from his chest, elongating a pillar of water from it. He swung the scalchop at his opponent, but the Panpour avoided the hit by leaping to the right. "Again!" Oshawott complied, swinging his scalchop at his opponent's new location, but the Panpour evaded by jumping backwards. "Use Water Gun!" Still holding his scalchop with its pillar of water, the Sea Otter Pokemon nodded and fired off a forceful shot of water from his mouth, catching Panpour off-guard. The attack made its mark and sent the Spray Pokemon backwards into one of the rocks jutting from the battlefield. "Now's your chance! Razor Shell!" Scalchop raised, Oshawott charged at Cress' Panpour and smacked it twice across the face with the pillar of water.

"Dislodge Oshawott with the flowing grace of Fury Swipes." The Panpour elongated white claws from its paws and began to slash away at various parts of Oshawott's body in a bid to drive him back. Needless to say, the Spray Pokemon succeeded in that endeavour as the pillar of water attached to Oshawott's scalchop disappeared, and the Sea Otter Pokemon brought the scalchop up to his face to defend it from the Spray Pokemon's frenzied movements. A particularly hard swipe from Panpour's left paw knocked the scalchop out of Oshawott's hands, sending it flying several meters away.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Oshawott, use Water Gun!" Winching from a slash across his face, the Sea Otter Pokemon spat a stream of water at the Spray Pokemon, forcing it to stop its attack so it could wipe its face. "Disengage and get your scalchop back, quickly!" Oshawott nodded and ran down the battle field in a bid to locate his lost weapon.

Amy sighed. "Looks like Oshawott losing his scalchop in battle is a recurring problem."

On the battlefield, without even turning his head to look at his companions on the balcony, the Doctor closed his eyes. "Yes, Pond, I know it's a recurring problem. A recurring problem that I'm trying to work out."

Violet's eyes widened. "The Doctor can hear us from down there?"

"Let's just say that he has very sensitive ears." replied Rory.

The cheerleaders were delighted at Oshawott's predicament. "Let's go, Cress! Let's go, Cress! Win! Win! Win!" Amy began to crack her knuckles.

Cress ran a hand through his hair before pointing at one of the battlefield's rocks. "Panpour, use Scald on that rock." The Spray Pokemon nodded and fired off its attack at the rock its Trainer indicated. The stream of boiling hot water struck the rock, before ricocheting off it and striking another and then a third. The process continued itself until the stream reached Oshawott, who was still searching for his scalchop. The Sea Otter Pokemon shrieked in pain and surprise and the attack hit him in the back, causing him to fall on the ground face-first.

The Doctor briefly muttered to himself. "I need a new approach. Oshawott, use Water Gun on the ground, just trust me." Oshawott nodded and tilted his head down at the ground, firing off his attack. The forceful shot of water from the Sea Otter Pokemon's mouth propelled him into the air, giving him a good vantage point of the entire battlefield. "Now aim at the ceiling!" The Sea Otter Pokemon tilted his head upwards at an angle, shooting his Water Gun at the ceiling. This had the effect of shooting him straight towards the ground, with his opponent directly in his trajectory. Back facing Panpour, Oshawott collided into the surprised Spray Pokemon, sending it straight into a rock.

Nathen had a surprised look on his face. "I definitely did not see that coming." The cheerleaders gasped, much to Amy's enjoyment.

But the Doctor was not done. "Now turn around and use Water Gun on Panpour!" Oshawott fired a stream of water from his mouth at Panpour, nailing the still stunned Spray Pokemon.

Cress bit his lip. "I sense turbulence in the waves. Panpour, Fury Swipes!" The Spray Pokemon ran at Oshawott, claws drawn, and managed to get a few swipes in on the Sea Otter Pokemon.

The Doctor massaged his temples. "Oshawott, use Tackle!" Before Panpour could swipe at Oshawott again, the Sea Otter Pokemon shot forward and tackled the Spray Pokemon in the stomach, sending both himself and it flying back into the same rock it was slammed into a minute ago.

"Panpour, Bite!" Still pinned to the rock by Oshawott, Panpour bared its fangs and bit down on the Sea Otter Pokemon's head. Oshawott's eyes widened slightly at the hit.

"Oshawott, turn around and use Water Gun!" Taking advantage of the fact that Panpour was in front of him and still latched onto his head, Oshawott spun around and opened his mouth, shooting a stream of water right into the Spray Pokemon's stomach. Panpour groaned as it was dislodged from Oshawott's head and sent tumbling down the battlefield. When it stopped moving, a look at its face revealed that its eyes were swirly.

Chili nodded. "Panpour is unable to battle, so the winner is Oshawott. Therefore, the winner of the first match is the challenger, the Doctor."

The Doctor: 1-0-0

The cheerleaders groaned. "Awww... How could Cress have lost today as well?" Amy had a smug expression on her face.

Cress held out his Panpour's Pokeball and recalled the unconscious Spray Pokemon. "Great work Panpour, now take your rest. A fine battle, Doctor."

The Time Lord nodded. "Why, thank you, Cress." Walking onto the battlefield, the Doctor smiled at Oshawott. "Congratulations, Oshawott, now to find that scalchop of yours. Blimey, where in the name of Gallifrey did that Panpour knock it off to?"

Oshawott shrugged. "Osha."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to start looking then."

Faye's eyes widened "Wow, he actually won, despite neither Pokemon's water-type attacks doing that much damage to each other."

Violet nodded. "And Oshawott won with little aid from his scalchop. The Doctor's a man of surprises, isn't he?"

Rory nodded. "That he is." The spectators on the balcony stopped talking when a triumphant shout broke out on the battlefield.

"WOOHOO! Found it! Yeah!" The Doctor enthusiastically held up Oshawott's scalchop. "This thing's colored a bit like the battlefield, no wonder it escaped detection for a while. Grinning from ear-to-ear, the Doctor returned the scalchop to Oshawott, who took it with a smile.

"Osha!" The Time Lord smiled and recalled Oshawott. He walked off to his end of the battlefield to see that Chili had taken Cress' previous position on the opposite side. "Looks like I'll be facing Chili next. Let's keep the momentum going."

Cilan replaced Chili as the next match's referee. "It's now time for our second match, which is the battle between the gym leader Chili and the challenger, the Doctor. Gosh, Chili was right, that was awkward to say."

"That's what happens when you choose to simply go by a title like that." muttered Amy.

On the battlefield, the Doctor narrowed his eyes, with a warning tone in his voice which surprised his companions. "I heard that, Pond."

The woman was taken slightly aback. _"I had better watch what I say then."_

Cilan cleared his throat. "If that is all, then it's time to begin!"

Chili took a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it. "Time to meet my Pokemon partner! Heat's on!" The Pokeball opened to reveal Chili's Pansear. In response, the Doctor silently took Snivy's Pokeball and sent out the Grass Snake Pokemon.

"Now the Doctor's deliberately sending out a Pokemon with a disadvantage against the gym leader's." muttered Miri.

Nathen crossed his arms. "Well, Snivy is most likely his strongest Pokemon, so he's probably counting on her to overcome that disadvantage."

Chili nodded. "The first move is yours, Doctor."

The Time Lord shrugged. "Very well, Snivy, use Leaf Tornado." The Grass Snake Pokemon jumped up and turned upside down, before spinning around, generating a green tinted tornado filled with leaves. With the wind spinning strongly, she moved towards Pansear, intending to trap it within the confines of the tornado.

But Chili had a different plan in mind. "Pansear, use Yawn and then get out of Snivy's way!" The High Temp Pokemon opened its mouth and yawned, sending a red bubble towards the Grass Snake Pokemon.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Dodge that Yawn, Snivy!" Snivy attempted to veer out of the attack's trajectory, but the Grass Tornado proved to be unwieldy to control when suddenly changing directions. The bubble was sucked into the tornado and rode the wind to pop against the tornado's controller. "In that case, ensnare Pansear!" Fighting off the fatigue induced by Yawn, Snivy sped forward and managed to capture Chili's Pansear in her attack. The Grass Tornado moved forwards for a few meters before Snivy slammed it against the ground, creating a cloud of dust, and knocking the ensnared Pansear a short distance away from the Grass Snake Pokemon. The dust settled to reveal Snivy belly-down, fast asleep on the battlefield.

Violet whistled. "Tough. Since this match is one-on-one, the Doctor can't switch out his Snivy."

Chili smirked. "And now Pansear, fire things up with Fury Swipes!" Pansear rushed forward with claws sticking out from its paws and began to slash away at the sleeping Grass Snake Pokemon's body.

The Doctor's eyes widened in alarm. "Come on Snivy, wake up!"

The cheerleaders reveled in the moment. "Go, Chili, go! Make this battle a piece of cake!" Amy gritted her teeth in utter annoyance.

Nathen looked thoughtfully at the scene. "Now how will the Doctor recover from this setback?"

Chili pointed at Snivy. "Keep it up, Pansear! Use Flame Burst! Turn up the heat!" Ceasing its Fury Swipes attack and standing over Snivy, Pansear nodded and crossed its arms over its chest, its body glowing red. With a shout, Pansear uncrossed its arms, and flames engulfed both Pokemon, obscuring everyone's view of them.

The Doctor bit his lip. "Wake up, Snivy!"

"Use Flame Burst again!" The flames grew larger, signifying the successful execution of another attack. "One more time, Flame Burst!"

"Snivy, come on!" From deep within the inferno of flames, Snivy's eyes snapped open, and all she saw was red-and-orange fire. Winching from the heat permeating her body, she looked up to see Chili's Pansear with its arms crossed over its chest, a red glow surrounding its body. Squinting from the blindingly hot light piercing her eyes, Snivy extended a vine from her right shoulder and shot it forwards at Pansear, whacking the High Temp Pokemon across the chest with Vine Whip. The Pansear's eyes widened as Snivy's attack broke its focus, forcing it to stop its preparations for Flame Burst. The High Temp Pokemon felt something curl around its legs, and its eyes widened when it noticed that said thing was Snivy's vine. Still lying belly-down on the ground but with a smirk on her face, the Grass Snake Pokemon gave her vine a hard yank forward, tripping up the High Temp Pokemon and causing it to fall on its back. The flames died down to reveal this sight to the Doctor and Chili.

"No way."

"Great work, Snivy. Now hold Pansear in place with that vine, and with your other vine, use Vine Whip!" Snivy extended the vine from her left shoulder and began to viciously whip Pansear repeatedly. "Now, use Leaf Tornado!" Vine still wrapped around Pansear's legs, Snivy turned herself upside down and began to spin, creating a tornado filled with leaves. Pansear yelped in surprise as it was forcefully pulled into the vortex of air for the second time. The tornado spun for several seconds, battering the High Temp Pokemon inside with its leaves and winds, before it was slammed into the ground, forcefully ejecting the Pansear.

"Pansear, use Bite!" Chili's Pansear ran at Snivy with its mouth opened and fangs bared, in preparation for its attack.

"Dodge it!" Snivy leapt gracefully over the approaching Pansear and landed on the ground, a few meters behind the High Temp Pokemon. "Now, use Tackle." With a nod, the Grass Snake Pokemon ran at the High Temp Pokemon's back, knocking it aside with a full body tackle.

"Alright, Pansear, try using Fury Swipes!" The High Temp Pokemon caught Snivy in its sights again, before running at her, claws raised.

"Try and dodge it, Snivy!" The Grass Snake Pokemon attempted to follow her Trainer's command as the High Temp Pokemon began to swipe at her. She succeeded in evading the first few slashes, but a well-placed one on her legs sent her sprawling backwards onto the battlefield. Seeing that its opponent had fallen, Pansear began to mercilessly rake its claws along Snivy's body without any form of letup. The Grass Snake Pokemon screeched in pain at the repeated slashes she was receiving. The Doctor's eyes widened in alarm.

Chili gave his challenger a smirk. "And now, finish it with the searing force of Flame Burst, Pansear!" The High Temp Pokemon forcefully stepped on Snivy's stomach, causing the Grass Snake Pokemon to squeeze her eyes shut and grunt in pain as her hands grabbed its foot in a vain attempt to remove it from its position on her body. The Pansear glowed red and engulfed both itself and Snivy in a large burst of red fire.

The Doctor gritted his teeth. "SNIVY!" The flames cleared to reveal Chili's Pansear still stepping on Snivy's stomach, and the Grass Snake Pokemon herself out cold.

Cilan nodded. "Snivy is unable to battle. Pansear wins. Which means that the winner of the second match is the gym leader Chili."

The Doctor: 1-1-0

The cheerleaders waved their pom-poms in glee at Chili's victory, earning themselves dark looks from Amy.

Chili recalled his Pansear. "It's time for you to rest, Pansear. Great job with your battle today. I enjoyed that battle, Doctor. Your Snivy managed to give Pansear here a run for its money." The Time Lord nodded with a smile, holding out his Snivy's Pokeball and recalling the Grass Snake Pokemon.

Faye stared down at the battlefield. "Hmmm... So Snivy lost to Pansear."

Violet shrugged. "I guess some of us had that thought at the backs of our heads. Don't forget, Snivy had a type disadvantage against Pansear, a fact that the Doctor was well aware of, and yet he still chose to send in Snivy for that match anyway."

"You think he underestimated Pansear?"

"Possibly. I guess he didn't plan for this one as well as he thought."

Amy scoffed. "The Doctor doing any actual planning? Don't make me laugh."

"Ah, so he does a lot of things spontaneously then. I've met and interviewed a lot of Trainers who also do that. Some have this impression that not planning things out allows for a more fluid battle style and makes one easily adaptable, which may very well be true, since you won't be weighed down with thoughts of preplanned strategies." said Miri.

"Well, the Doctor has one match left that he has to win, if he is to get a badge." remarked Nathen. "Oh, I guess it's starting now."

Cress walked onto the edge of the battlefield's center. "Alright. The third and final match of the day is between the challenger, the Doctor, yes a tad awkward to say, and the gym leader Cilan."

Cilan had a Pokeball in hand, which he tossed. "Here we go. My partner!" The Pokeball opened, and Cilan's Pansage was sent out. Without uttering a single word, the Doctor hurled the Pokeball containing his Tepig, sending out his Fire Pig Pokemon.

"Well, the Doctor has the advantage now." remarked Miri.

"I guess he's now trying to increase his chances of clinching a win with this match." said Violet.

Nathen scratched his head. "Type isn't always everything though. We'll just have to see how this plays out."

Cress took a deep breath. "If there's nothing else, begin!"

Cilan stared at the Doctor. "You may have the first attack, from anywhere you like."

The Time Lord nodded. "Gladly. Tepig, use Ember." The Fire Pig Pokemon shot off a stream of fire bolts at the Grass Monkey Pokemon.

"Pansage, dodge it." Cilan's Pansage leapt above the attack, completely avoiding it.

Staring at the still airborne Pansage, the Doctor smirked and pointed to a spot on the battlefield a few meters in front of Tepig, and from Pansage's current location, diagonally to its right towards the ground. "Tepig, use Flame Charge and run to that spot."

Cilan's eyes widened. "What?" Tepig looked a tad unsure of his Trainer's instructions.

"Seriously, everyone keeps stealing my line. And quickly Tepig, just trust me on this." The Fire Pig Pokemon nodded before cloaking himself in fire and running towards the spot the Doctor directed him to, right in time to meet the descending Pansage, in its trajectory towards the ground, with a hit. The Grass Monkey Pokemon yelped as it was knocked backwards by the super effective attack.

"Quick, Pansage, blossom in the direction of the wind and use Leech Seed." While still being flung backwards by Tepig's attack, the Grass Monkey Pokemon spat a single seed at the Fire Pig Pokemon. The seed struck Tepig and vines grew out from it to wrap around the Fire Pig Pokemon's midsection, enabling Pansage to sap his energy. "Now use Seed Bomb!" Cilan's Pansage shot a large number of white seeds from its mouth at the Fire Pig Pokemon, who winched as the projectiles struck his face and front legs. Using the momentum of the attack to speed up its backwards movement, Pansage stuck its right leg out and caught the top of one of the battlefield's rocks, bringing the rest of its body to rest  
atop the rock.

"Try using Ember." Tepig shot a stream of fire bolts from its snout, only for Pansage to dodge by leaping off the rock and onto another. "Try again then." Another Ember attack from Tepig was met with the same result from Cilan's Pansage. "Just keep it up and aim properly." Tepig repeatedly shot off Ember attacks which Pansage continued to dodge. Eventually however, one nailed its target. "Now use Flame Charge!" The Fire Pig Pokemon cloaked himself in fire and charged at the Grass Monkey Pokemon, successfully hitting it.

"Pansage, burst into full bloom with Fury Swipes!" Pansage elongated white claws from its right paw and raked them across Tepig's back, forcing him to halt his movements. Another swipe, this time from Pansage's left paw, followed, slashing across Tepig's front legs, bringing the Fire Pig Pokemon to his knees. Several slashes across Tepig's back followed.

"Tepig, use Tackle." Tepig sprang forward and slammed his body into Pansage's, knocking both Pokemon into a rock.

"Use Bite, Pansage!" Pinned to a rock, Pansage noticed Tepig's tail waving in its face. The Grass Monkey Pokemon opened its mouth and bit down hard on the Fire Pig Pokemon's tail, causing Tepig to shriek in pain and release his grip on Cilan's Pansage.

"Shake Pansage off, Tepig!" The Fire Pig Pokemon began to wave his tail around wildly, trying to remove the appendage from Pansage's jaws. Just as Tepig was about to swing the Pansage into another rock, the Grass Monkey Pokemon released its jaws, causing Tepig to smack his own tail into the rock. The Fire Pig Pokemon groaned in pain at the self-inflicted injury.

"And now, Seed Bomb, Pansage." The Grass Monkey Pokemon began to pelt Tepig with white seeds from its mouth, while the Fire Pig Pokemon was still winching from smacking his own tail into the rock. Tepig ran as seeds repeatedly struck his rear end, eyes squeezed tightly shut at the stinging sensation the attack was causing him. Tepig eventually managed to get behind a low rock and away from the attack's path, but Cilan's Pansage began to slowly advance towards his location, spitting seeds along the way in hopes of intimidating him.

The cheerleaders chanted. "Keep it up, Cilan! Keep it up!" Amy stared at the cheerleaders, looking like she was out for blood.

The Doctor sighed. "Tepig, get a hold of yourself, and use Ember." The Fire Pig Pokemon took a deep breath before leaping up on top of the rock. From his elevated position over his opponent, Tepig shot a stream of fire bolts from his snout, forcing Pansage to raise its arms above its face to protect itself from being pelted by the Ember attack. "Jump off and use Flame Charge!" Tepig did as he was told, leaping off the rock and cloaking himself in fire. He shot straight towards the surprised Pansage like a missile and tackled it right in the stomach, knocking it down on its back.

Cilan smiled. "Pansage, Bite!" Still underneath the Fire Pig Pokemon, the Grass Monkey Pokemon bared its fangs while lifting its head up to bite Tepig on the neck. Tepig's eyes squeezed shut and he gritted his teeth, trying not to give his opponent the satisfaction of hearing him scream. "While you have Tepig in place, grow your claws like grass and use Fury Swipes!" White claws extended themselves from the Pansage's paws, and it slashed Tepig's underside several times.

"Tepig, use Ember quickly!" The Fire Pig Pokemon turned its head slightly and shot fire bolts at the Grass Monkey Pokemon from its snout, forcing the Pansage to slacken the grip its jaws had on Tepig's neck. With a quick jerk of his head, Tepig yanked his head from Pansage's jaws. "Now then Tepig, use Flame Charge!"

"Stop that attack with Fury Swipes!" Before Tepig could cloak himself in fire for a Flame Charge attack, Pansage rolled itself and Tepig over so it was now on top of the Fire Pig Pokemon. Claws gleaming white, it swiped them across Tepig's underside.

The Doctor gritted his teeth. "Use Ember!" Tepig fired his attack at his opponent, causing Cilan's Pansage to winch as fire bolts struck its chin. Taking advantage of the Grass Monkey Pokemon's distraction, Tepig ran from under it, putting a few meters between himself and it. "Flame Charge!" The Fire Pig Pokemon ran towards the Grass Monkey Pokemon, fire engulfing his body in the process.

"Seed Bomb, Pansage!" The Grass Monkey Pokemon nodded and began to fire white seeds from its mouth, which proceeded to repeatedly strike the charging Tepig on the forehead. Showing no sign that he was affected by the persistent flow of seeds, Tepig shot forward and collided with the Grass Monkey Pokemon. The flames surrounding him shot over to cover Cilan's Pansage as well, blocking both Cilan and the Doctor from seeing their Pokemon.

When the fire died down, Tepig and Pansage were lying on the ground, their eyes swirly.

Cress cleared his throat. "Tepig and Pansage are unable to battle, and so this match is a draw! With one win, one loss, and one draw, the Doctor's challenge at the Striaton Gym is a draw."

The Doctor: 1-1-1

The cheerleaders moaned. "A draw? Awww… At least the challenger didn't win."

Amy cracked her knuckles. "That's it, come over here, you annoying pests!" The hotheaded woman moved towards the cheerleaders, who quickly fled from the balcony in fear.

Rory looked alarmed. "Stop her!" Nathen, Violet, and Faye leapt up and held the woman back, pushing her back into her chair. "You complained about the Doctor making a scene yesterday, and look at yourself."

Amy closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. "So what happens when a gym battle ends in a draw?"

Miri put away her notepad. "In that situation, the gym leader is required to decide if the challenger deserves to win a badge based on his or her performance."

"So the Doctor may need to go for a rematch?"

"Well, at this point it's up to the gym leaders. The Doctor may very well have to go for a rematch, yes. By the look on his face, he doesn't seem to mind if he has to or not."

Amy groaned as she stared at the exit to the balcony where the cheerleaders had exited minutes ago. "Urgh. If they don't give the Doctor the badge, I think I'm ready to get on my knees and _beg_ them to do so."

Rory chuckled. "Getting desperate?" The nurse quickly stopped talking when his wife shot him a dark look. He changed the subject. "The Doctor had the advantage in type. How did a draw happen?"

Nathen shrugged. "Well, like I said, type isn't everything. It probably shows that Cilan's Pansage is a strong opponent, as gym leaders' Pokemon are expected to be. That and Tepig had a Leech Seed planted on him at the start of the match. It's not easy to carry out the battle while your energy is being periodically sapped. In that regard, Tepig's pretty tough himself, in not succumbing to it."

Cilan held out a Pokeball and recalled his Pansage. "You gave it your all, Pansage. Good job. Time for you to take a rest. That was a battle filled to the bursting with flavor, Doctor. You had me on the ropes quite a few times." The Time Lord held out his Tepig's Pokeball and silently recalled the Fire Pig Pokemon.

The Doctor beamed. "Thank you very much." The Time Lord gave the three gym leaders a small bow. "And thank you all, I guess I'll come back soon for a rematch." The Doctor turned his back on the gym leaders and began to walk away.

The Time Lord stopped however, when Cilan's voice interrupted. "Just a minute." The Doctor turned to face the gym leaders again, and saw that Chili was holding a blue hexagonal container with a Trio Badge inside. "We've decided to award you the Trio Badge for daring to challenge all three of us, and giving us all fine battles. The goal of a Trainer is to also challenge himself or herself to the absolute limit, and I think you've accomplished that through the Pokemon that you chose to face ours. Plus, you were nice about our ties, even though they're supposedly now out of fashion."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "I can't accept the badge like this…"

The Time Lord's protests were cut off by Cress. "I'll say that you earned it."

The Doctor closed his eyes and took the badge from the container, inserting it into his badge case. "Alright then. Thank you."

Amy called on the Doctor from the balcony. "Wow, Doctor, you challenged all three gym leaders even though you didn't have to, made your own life harder in the process, and were lucky enough to get a badge after all that. Furthermore, you chose incompatible type match-ups for two of your battles, even though you could have given yourself the advantage in all three. And in the battle where you _did_ give yourself the advantage in, you didn't win it. Have you ever thought things through?"

The Doctor appeared to be offended. "OI!" He crossed his arms, eliciting laughter from the gym leaders and his companions.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Outskirts, January 4, 2011, 1:30 p.m.)_

On the outskirts of Striaton City, Felix stood atop a hill with a number of Plasma grunts. He grinned from ear-to-ear. "We are now in position. The operation begins tomorrow."

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, January 4, 2011, 1:30 p.m.)_

Adam dialed a number into his cell phone. He waited for a few seconds before someone on the other end picked up.

A stoic voice was heard. "Hello?"

Adam nodded. "It's me. I've passed on the information and those idiotic researchers followed up on it. They managed to unearth what we were searching for. The items will be transported to the Nacrene Museum."

"Excellent. You will be joining Professor Juniper soon, I assume?"

"Yes."

"When you have arrived in Nacrene City, give the call, and we'll begin the operation."

"There's just one thing."

"What?"

"The researchers unearthed something _extra_, something not in our plans. Let's just say that the Nacrene Museum will soon be playing host to the remains of not one Legendary Pokemon, but _two_."

"Interesting. Keep me posted." With that, the person on the other end disconnected the call.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Gym, January 4, 2011, 1:35 p.m.)_

After the Doctor's gym battles, the group now stood outside the gym.

"So you'll be staying in Striaton City for a while longer?" asked Miri.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, we have to wait for those assistants of Professor Juniper's to arrive here before they accompany us to Nacrene City, and I have to give that lecture at the Trainer's School on her behalf. I presume that you'll all be going ahead then."

Nathen nodded. "Yeah, I'm headed off to challenge other gyms first, starting with the one in Nacrene City, and I believe Miri's coming along with me for company."

The journalist blushed. "Sure. That's one way to travel the region for more news stories."

"I'm going on ahead with Faye as well. More gym battles await, you know." said Violet. Faye simply nodded.

"Then may our paths cross again soon." said Rory. The Doctor and Amy nodded as the four teens walked away, headed for the outskirts of the city. The Time Lord and his companions waved as they saw the teens depart.

After she stopped waving, Amy chuckled before giving the Doctor a sly smile. "By the way, Doctor, have you considered the fact that the gym leaders simply awarded you the Trio Badge just to get rid of you? If they didn't, you'd challenge all three of them again, and that would exhaust more of their Pokemon, preventing them from taking on more challenges on the same day."

The Time Lord briefly considered his companion's words before pouting. "What? So I'm a burden? Why would anyone want to get rid of me? Well, except for Daleks and Cybermen **(1)** and the sort. But that's beside the point. I'm a great person!" whined the Doctor.

Rory smiled. "Oh relax, Doctor. Amy's just teasing you."

The woman gave the Time Lord a teasing smile. "Or am I?"

The Doctor continued to pout. "Even though I've won, you two somehow manage to make me feel terrible."

"Uh, Doctor? Technically, you didn't win."

The Doctor slumped his head forward. "You see? Just like that!" The Time Lord's misery only served to elicit a few laughs from the couple accompanying him. The laughter soon stopped at the sound of the Doctor's Xtranceiver ringing.

The Doctor answered the call, and the Xtranceiver's screen tuned on to show Professor Juniper's face.

The professor smiled. "Why hello there, Doctor. Did you challenge the gym yet?"

The Time Lord nodded. "Yeah, and I wo- er, _obtained_ a badge there."

Professor Juniper chuckled. "Congratulations. Did you challenge all three gym leaders?"

The Doctor was surprised. "Yeah, how did you guess?"

"You seem to be the sort who would do such a thing, that's all."

"Hmmm… So what can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm at the Nacrene Museum, and I'm just about to head off for the Relic Castle now, so I won't be able to contact you due to the poor reception in the desert and vice versa. I just wanted to inform you that you'll have to deliver that lecture at the Trainer's School tomorrow. They know to expect you, so just flash your credentials when you're there. Oh, and the teacher called in sick, so this may be too much to ask, but could you watch the kids for the day as well? You can entertain them with your Pokemon to keep them busy."

"I could do that. Anything for the kids."

"Great. Thanks for your help. I'll call you when Skylar and Sophie arrive in Striaton City as well. My helicopter's now here, so I really have to go. Bye now." The screen on the Doctor's Xtranceiver went blank as the call was terminated.

Rory shrugged. "Well, it looks like we have our plans for tomorrow then. I guess that'll keep us busy until Professor Juniper's researchers arrive here." The Doctor ignored his companion, appearing to be rather occupied.

Amy took note of the Time Lord's distraction. "Uh Doctor, what's wrong?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Professor Juniper forgot to tell me what sort of lecture to give those kids, and I forgot to ask!"

* * *

Author's notes: Well, that's that for the Doctor's first gym battle chapter. I hope that a draw isn't too much of a big suspension of belief. I think that the Doctor will obtain another badge in Unova due to a draw, though at which gym is secret for now. As for the departing OCs, they will be seen again at later chapters, of course. Anyways, here's this chapter's glossary, with one entry.

(1) Apart from Daleks, Cybermen are another prominent villanous alien race in Doctor Who, being the most iconic after the Daleks themselves. The two races also share a very intense rivalry, and the Cybermen dislike the Doctor as much as the Daleks do.

And I'm still taking OCs for this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Faye Lillian Anderson belongs to Prism Fire.**

**Violet Kinomoto belongs to Miss Kiko.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**


	15. To Live in an Alien World

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Babies have big heads and big eyes, and tiny little bodies with tiny little arms and legs. So did the aliens at Roswell! I rest my case." _– William Shatner

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 15: To Live in an Alien World**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Streets, January 5, 2011, 9:45 a.m.)_

The day after the Doctor's gym battle at the Striaton Gym, he found himself walking down the streets of the city holding a newspaper in front of his face. A bag labeled with the name of a posh sounding uptown shop hung by its handles from his left arm. His companions walked next to him, occasionally overtaking or falling slightly behind the Time Lord.

Amy huffed. "Have you even given a single thought as to what you're going to say to those kids today? Or are you just going to wing it, Doctor?"

The Time Lord did not even look up from his reading material to acknowledge the woman. "I have thought about it, Pond. And came up with nothing."

"What? You know so much about this world and can't even think up of something to say about it? Are you going to rant about how cool bow ties are?"

From behind the paper, the Doctor smiled as if a lightbulb went off in his head. "You know, that might not be such a bad idea, Amy. Bow ties _are_ cool."

The woman slapped herself on the forehead and turned to Rory. "Please tell me I didn't just give him an idea."

Rory looked unsure. "Uh, I-I t-think you j-just did."

Amy sighed deeply. "You oaf. You were supposed to agree with me."

Unable to think of anything to say to his wife, the nurse simply shrugged, turning to the Time Lord. "Doctor? Why are you walking down the streets with a newspaper in front of your face? Can you see where you're going?"

From behind the newspaper, the Doctor shrugged. "Don't be absurd. I believe I can see perfectly fine, Rory. I'm trying to see if there's anything in the paper today that I can expand upon and talk about to those kids."

Amy perked up. "Oh. Anything about that expedition to the Relic Castle?"

"The only thing about it is this piece on how the site is currently being combed for artifacts. If they made any interesting discoveries, those certainly aren't mentioned here. I'm guessing that those are currently being kept under wraps until the expedition party returns to the Nacrene Museum for security reasons."

"I see. What's in the bag?"

"Oh, just some gifts I bought yesterday. A nice way to win the kids over, don't you think?"

Amy whispered to her husband. "How much do you want to bet that the Doctor has plenty of bow ties in that bag?"

"Quite a bit, we know the Doctor after all." replied Rory.

"He's going to persuade them that they're cool, isn't he?"

Rory sighed. "Sometimes, that man can sell ice to Eskimos."

Walking behind his companions, the Time Lord's eyes caught sight of another article. He quickly whipped out a fountain pen and dripped black ink on a portion of a word before putting it away and pretending to perk up. "Oooo... This is interesting."

Amy raised an eyebrow and turned around to face the Time Lord. "What is?" The Doctor simply detached the page in question and handed it to her, continuing to read the rest of the paper. Rory looked over his wife's shoulder as she began to read. "Some documents found at the Relic Castle yesterday have provided credibility to an often circulated theory surrounding the two princes of Unova. Said theory being that each prince possessed not one, but two Legendary Pokemon. Apart from the Vast White Pokemon Reshi-" The woman stopped reading at the sight of the last word on the line. "Hey! The rest of this word is blotted out with black ink!"

Having walked ahead of his companions, the Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, I noticed. Must be a printing problem. These things happen, you know. Carry on."

Casting a suspicious glance at the Time Lord, the woman continued to read the article. "the White Prince had another Legendary Pokemon in his possession, the identity of which remains unknown, though researchers have discerned that it was very kind and playful. The White Prince was known to have spent countless hours teaching and playing mysterious games with that Pokemon, many of which he is believed to have invented. The rules for many of those games remain a mystery to this day, known only to the White Prince and his Pokemon, though one involves the use of massive stone tablets. Several well known board games such as Go and Chess have been discovered as well, believed to have been used by the Pokemon. This Pokemon is known to have survived the catastophe that created the two dragons and killed the princes, as eyewitness reports at the time described it as fleeing the destruction, a look of mourning on its face for its fallen master. Its whereabouts are currently unknown, but reports of a tower built in a distant corner of Unova by the White Prince as a retreat for it are surfacing. The search for such a tower has begun, as it is postulated that the Legendary Pokemon may reside there."

Rory sighed. "How sad. You know, that Pokemon is left with the pain of having its master die, and it still has to live on."

The Doctor massaged his temples briefly before returning to his newspaper. "I know what you mean, Rory. I really do."

Amy continued to read the article. "Like the White Prince, the Black Prince owned a Legendary Pokemon in addition to the Deep Black Pokemon Zekrom, the identity of which has been confirmed as the Paleozoic Pokemon Genesect. Genesect was a species of Pokemon which thrived in Unova roughly 300 million years ago, and was believed to have become extinct 65 million years ago, the same time as the fossil Pokemon Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto, Kabutops, Aerodactyl, Lileep, Cradily, Anorith, Armaldo, Cranidos, Rampardos, Shieldon, Bastiodon, Tirtouga, Carracosta, Archen, and Archeops." She looked up from the article. "Golly, that's a lot of Pokemon."

The Time Lord shrugged. "Nothing compared to the dinosaurs, which went extinct in your world around the same time. Keep reading."

The woman did as she was told. "Theories that the Genesect species went extinct at the same time as its fossil contemporaries were thrown out the window upon this revelation. The Black Prince had managed to obtain one and trained it to commit atrocities all across Unova. It was a feared sight across many of the region's towns and cities, where it accompanied its master on his massacres. How he had managed to find his Genesect remains a mystery, as thought to be extinct, one had not been seen in recorded history before his Pokemon appeared. Knowing that his Pokemon was the last Genesect, the Black Prince declared it to be a Legendary Pokemon by royal proclaimation. Unlike the White Prince's other Legendary Pokemon, this Genesect perished in the catastrophe, believed to have been crushed to death by falling debris from the castle's walls. With the passing of this specimen, the Genesect species became well and truly extinct. The expedition continues its search for more evidence on the subject of these two Pokemon continues."

Rory scratched his head. "So each prince owned _two_ Legendary Pokemon?"

"That appears to be the case." muttered the Doctor. "Come along now, time's a-wasting." The Time Lord sighed, left to his thoughts. _"It's been so long since I last saw you. Are you two still alive out there?"_

* * *

_(Striaton City, Trainer's School, January 5, 2011, 9:55 a.m.)_

Before long, the Doctor and his companions arrived at the building described as the Trainer's School. Rory and Amy walked into the building first, waiting for the Time Lord. However, lagging behind them, the Doctor was too preoccupied with his newspaper, and failed to notice that the school's automatic doors had closed. The Time Lord bumped head first into the doors with a painful thud.

Feeling the pain in his forehead from his collision with the doors, the Doctor folded up his newspaper and rubbed the affected spot. "Ow! That settles it! Next time, I'm cutting eyeholes in the paper."

Rory scratched his head. "Er, in that case, wouldn't you be too focused on looking out the eye holes to see where you're going? And that would mean you won't pay much attention to what's on the paper, which defeats the purpose of reading it. Plus, in making the eye holes, you'll wind up cutting out some of the information. Besides, you'd look even sillier walking with holes in your newspaper."

The Doctor frowned slightly. "Alright, I guess you have a point." The Time Lord stood still and waited for the automatic doors to open, not realizing that he was standing too close to them. The doors swung open and the left one collided with the Doctor's body, knocking him back a few meters onto his rear end. Groaning in pain, the Time Lord got up and tucked his newspaper under his right arm, massaging his temples. "Urgh. Not again." Rory and Amy began to laugh. "_Real mature_, you two. Now come on." The Doctor stepped into the building to join Rory and Amy. Noticing a secretary behind her desk in the foyer, the Time Lord walked up to her.

The secretary looked at the Doctor. "Are you alright? Those look like two painful bumps you took. Then again, maybe you shouldn't be reading the paper while walking."

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor simply took out his psychic paper. "Yes, well, I'm the guest speaker today." He flashed his psychic paper in the woman's face.

The secretary blinked twice before nodding. "Ah, Professor John Smith. How nice of you and your assistants to show up. We have been expecting you. I'm sure you're aware that Ms. Pearson called in sick today, so thank you all for offering to watch the kids. Her classroom is the fifth door down the corridor to your right."

"Thank you." The Doctor turned his back on his companions and began to walk in the direction of the corridor.

Rory scratched his head. "Professor Smith? I thought the psychic paper referred to you as 'Doctor Smith' when we first came to Unova."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Let's just say that it decided to slip in a teaching appointment somewhere down the line. Makes sense, since I'm now going to teach some kids."

Amy sighed. "That psychic paper just adds qualifications as demanded, eh? Like that one from the Archbishop of Canterbury **(1)**?"

"Indeed it does. Hmmm... I must remember to inform Professor Juniper of this 'addition' to my qualifications. Now come along, you two. The kids are waiting. Yes, you don't want to leave the kids waiting..." Rory and Amy briefly rolled their eyes at the Time Lord's parental tone of voice before following.

"When he talks to you, that man can sometimes make _you_ feel like a little kid." muttered Amy.

"I agree." replied Rory.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Trainer's School, Ms. Pearson's Classroom, January 5, 2011, 10 a.m.)_

The door to the classroom opened with a start, as the Doctor took large strides into the room, followed by his companions. He walked over to the teacher's desk and set his newspaper and bag down before turning around.

The Time Lord reached the room's center and stopped, facing the twenty children who were now staring in attention at him. The Doctor raised his right hand, palm forward, and parted his fingers between the middle and ring finger, extending his thumb. "Ah, hello everyone. I'm your teacher for the day. Now, live long and prosper." He noticed the gesture his hand had shaped itself into and chuckled awkwardly. "Oh sorry, wrong gesture. This is a greeting gesture used by the Vulcans. I believe it's called the Vulcan salute. Interesting people, the Vulcans..."

"You'd think the Doctor would know these kids aren't aliens." muttered Rory to himself. The students continued to eye the Time Lord.

The Doctor shrugged and walked over to the whiteboard, reached for a marker, and pulled off the cap with his teeth. Holding the cap in his mouth, he wrote his pseudonym on the board before recapping the marker. "Anyway, My name's John Smith, but call me 'The Doctor' or 'Professor Smith' if you prefer. I'm a Pokemon researcher, and these are my assistants, Rory and Amy. But let's start with the attendance first, shall we?" The Time Lord grabbed a clipboard and carried out the process, satisfied to find that all the students were accounted for. "Well, apparently, I'm standing in for Professor Juniper to give you a lecture today. But here's the thing, I'm not really sure what lecture I'm supposed to give you, so I'm just going to work with whatever comes off the top of my head. Okay? Good." The Time Lord was met with a stunned silence from the students. "I see the magnitude of what I'm about to teach you has shocked you into silence, so let's not dilly-dally. Okay, let's talk about quantum fields and antiparticles."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Uh, Doctor? Those kids are like what, seven?"

The Doctor stopped. "Well, children are more intelligent than you think, Pond." A girl raised her hand. "Yes?"

The girl looked at Amy with distaste. "Did that _ugly old lady_ just call us _stupid_?"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Hey! Who are you calling ugly and old?"

Ignoring the woman, the Doctor strode over to the teacher's desk and grabbed the apple resting on its surface. He briefly brought it to his lips, before quickly deciding against it, after remembering his first meeting with Amy **(2)**. He put the fruit down and stared at the girl to answer her question. "In a nutshell, yes."

The girl narrowed her own eyes at the woman. "As if you're so smart, _lady_."

Amy crossed her arms and stared smugly at the girl. "Well, I'm Professor Smith's assistant, I should think so." The woman's comment incited a student from a discrete corner of the room to fire a spitball at her. Amy winched at the soggy ball of paper hit her on the forehead. "HEY! WHO SHOT THAT?" Another spitball hit her in the left elbow. Before long, Amy found herself pelted by the wet bits of improvised ammunition. Rory attempted to defend his wife, and received a few hits himself.

The Doctor massaged his temples while he watched Rory and Amy get assaulted by spitballs. He clared his throat before taking a deep breath. "ENOUGH!" Noticing the immediate ceasation of activity, the Doctor took another breath before continuing. "We do not shoot spitballs at people, thank you. Well, feel free to shoot them at the ceiling. Personally, I think spitball should be a competitive sport, don't you?" The Time Lord received several enthsiastic nods. "I do love a good spitball game, but NOT at people. Hmmm... I think I'll start." Before anyone could respond, the Doctor reached for his newspaper and tore a corner off the front page. Scrunching up the paper into a small ball, he put it in his mouth and whipped out a straw. The Time Lord stuck the straw in his mouth, tilted his head towards the ceiling, and gave it a hard blow. A spitball shot out the straw and firmly attached itself to the ceiling. "Like that. Now come on, who can dislodge the spitball I just planted?"

A kid perked up. "Wow, you're the first teacher that let us do that! Like the White Prince! He created this game to amuse himself and one of his Pokemon."

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah, I know that story. He annoyed the royal court with that game. Paper was highly expensive back then, and they had to clean his mess up... He also played many other games with that Pokemon that were 'out of this world'. Well, knock yourselves out. I'll clean your mess up after class." His words served as the cue by which several spitballs were directed at the location of the one the Time Lord had shot a minute ago.

By this time, the couple had managed to clean themselves off. Amy narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "Doctor, you're just encouraging them!"

The Time Lord had a goofy grin on his face. "Well, kids should be kids."

"You never really grew up, did you?"

"You claimed to have, and stopped believing. I said I would fix that, didn't I **(3)**?" The Doctor held out two straws. "Now then, you two want to have a go?"

Amy shook her head. "Uh, no thanks. You may have shown us the wonders of time and space and taught us to let loose, but least I know when to control myself, unlike some madman."

The Time Lord grinned at the title Amy used to refer to him. "And you, Rory?"

Rory refused. "No, I'm good."

The Doctor shrugged and ripped another scrap from his newspaper. "Suit yourselves. Maybe I'll try and win at this game of mine." He turned to the children. "Alright, nobody shoot at any of the other spitballs I'm firing. The first one's the target." With the said, the Time Lord gleefully joined in, to the chagrin of his companions.

"Oh boy, he has quite a way with kids. Especially when he simply let Elliot go get his headphones in the midst of a Silurian invasion **(4)**." muttered Rory.

Amy sighed. "He's one hell-of-a babysitter, eh?"

After a few minutes, a boy eventually managed to dislodge the Doctor's first spitball, causing the Time Lord to look throughly impressed. "Well done, kid. You're Ellis, right?" The boy nodded. "I remember someone by that name. He helped me save London at the Royal Albert Hall last year **(5)**... Don't ask. Anyways, let's all give Ellis here a big hand!" After the boy received applause from his classmates, the Doctor returned to the board. "Well, Amy does have somewhat of a point, so let's not talk about quantum fields and antiparticles. Hmmm... What can there be to talk about?" Out of the corner of his eye, the Doctor saw a student raise his hand. "Yes?"

"Are you an alien, Professor Smith?"

Rory and Amy began to chuckle at the boy's correct assessment, while the Doctor simply raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You keep talking about weird stuff that doesn't exist, like Vulcans and London, whatever those are."

"If I said I _was_ an alien, would you believe me?"

"No. Aliens don't exist. My mom said so. And your assistants are laughing at you, Professor."

Amid the chuckling of his companions, the Doctor crossed his arms and huffed. "They _do_ so exist! And here's how I'm going to prove it." Briefly rolling his eyes at Rory and Amy, the Time Lord grabbed the whiteboard marker and began to write out an equation on the board.

_N = R* x fp x ne x fℓ x fi x fc x L_

"Class, I give you the Drake equation. It's used to estimate the number of detectable extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. It is used in the fields of exobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Now then, _N_ represents the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible. _R*_, the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy. _fp_ is the fraction of stars described in _R*_ that have planets, and _ne_ is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets, mentioned in _fp. fℓ _is the fraction of planets in _ne_ that actually develop life on them at one point. _fi_ is the fraction of planets in _fℓ_ where the life developed is actually intelligent. _fc_ represents the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology which releases detectable signs of their existence into space, like ours. Finally, _L_ is the length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space, in essence attempting to communicate with _they_ deem to be aliens." The only response the Doctor received was stunned silence.

"They probably think he's insane." muttered Amy.

Rory sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think you're right. Unfortunately, the Doctor speaks the truth."

The Time Lord continued to ramble on. "Now remember, space is this massive, massive, vast blanket that encompasses everything. It's huge! Emormous! Why, even this planet pales in comparison to the galaxy, which pales in comparison to the rest of the universe, which pales in comparison to its dimension, which pales in comparison to the rest of space! And this is likely just one of billons of planets our galaxy has! It may even have ten or a hundred or a thousand or a million or a billion times that amount! Why, I think you'll have to ask Palkia for an exact number! And if you're wondering, Rory and Amy, Palkia is the Pokemon that controls space."

A boy snickered. "Professor Smith's assistants _don't_ know who Palkia is? Wow..."

Amy groaned and massaged her temples, muttering to her husband. "The Doctor just made us look idiotic in front of the kids." Rory simply sighed.

A girl raised her hand. "So what you're saying is...there's a lot of planets?"

The Doctor nodded repeatedly with a silly grin and threw his arms out wide. "There's a lot of planets! And while the values for the equation are unknown, by plugging them in, and then saying that even if the chances of life appearing on any given planet are one in a billion, there must be billions and billions of planets with life! And that brings me to my point. Some of that life out there are species of Pokemon."

"There are Pokemon that come from space?"

"Indeed there are! This world is not the only planet with Pokemon on it! There exist several Pokemon that originated in space that have migrated here. These Pokemon can breed with terrestrial Pokemon, and evolve in the same ways. Pokeballs and items that work on terrestrial Pokemon work just as well on these Pokemon, who have adapted to this world where they landed. In fact, it is very likely that there are many more extraterrestrial Pokemon out there which haven't made contact with our world, and are yet to be discovered! While some Pokemon are definitively _confirmed_ to come from space, others are rumored to do so as well." The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at a projector in the corner of the room. Switching on the projector with the device, he got it to project an image of a Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable on the whiteboard.

Several students were stunned. "How did you do that?"

The Time Lord chuckled. "Oh, a good amount of research from the people around you, and you won't believe what they come up with! This concept for this device was actually created quite easily **(6)**. Now then, let's begin with Cleffa here, which evolves into Clefairy and then finally, Clefable. Yes, the star-shaped Cleffa which came from the stars, just like this man **(7)**."

The students were puzzled. "What?

The Doctor chuckled awkwardly. "Er, nevermind. Anyway, Cleffa are said to come to this world on meteorites. Wherever a meteorite lands, there is always a Cleffa nearby. They live primarily in mountainous regions, mostly in Mt. Moon in Kanto, and Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh. Cleffa and their evolved forms, Clefairy and Clefable, have been observed performing a peculiar ceremony, where they dance in a ring on Monday nights, nights with a full moon, and on nights when meteor showers occur. Interestingly, no legend mentions Clefairy or Clefable coming to this world on meteorites. Just Cleffa. It still means that Clefairy and Clefable are extraterrestrial by extension, however. Clefairy are also known to construct aircraft which resemble flying saucers that go into space, and runways as well, which could be another explanation for their origins."

"That's rather cool." muttered a boy.

"Indeed it is. Now let's move on." The Doctor shone his sonic screwdriver on the projector, causing the image on the board to change to one showing Staryu and Starmie. "Staryu and its evolution Starmie are two species of Pokemon that are found on the seafloors, waters of caves, and rivers of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Quite a pretty sight, eh?" The Time Lord received nods from several girls.

Amy smiled upon the sight of the two Pokemon. "I think I might want one. They are pretty."

Rory shrugged. "Good luck with that. The Doctor didn't say anything about them being found in Unova."

The woman crossed her arms and huffed. "You party pooper."

"They are most active at night, and for Staryu, this is the time when their cores will glow their brightest. They can be seen floating from the seafloor to the surface at this time, and aligning themselves up with the stars as their cores flicker. The formations they create through this process thus resemble constellations, and possibly depict a deep connection with the celestial bodies of space. Starmie send off mysterious radio signals at night while their luminescent cores flicker. Those radio waves are powerful enough to reach the furthest parts of the universe. Astronauts and probes have reported detecting them on their instruments. I think the next one will be a surprise." A press of the sonic screwdriver's button changed the image to that of a Mew.

"Mew? The Legendary Pokemon? It comes from space?" asked a surprised girl.

"Well, Mew is said to be the ancestor of _nearly every_ other Pokemon in existence. I say _nearly every_ because Arceus is said to be the first ever Pokemon, and the one who shaped this world. Personally, I'm not here to argue who came first, so let's just continue. What this means is that once upon a time, most of the Pokemon inhabiting this world were Mew, and they evolved into other species of Pokemon. If Mew aren't extraterrestrial, then how do you explain the presence of extraterrestrial Pokemon? They must have evolved from something, and that something must be Mew. Few have ever seen a Mew because it can Transform into other Pokemon, so you might have seen one and not realized it. Its ability to wield every Pokemon move certainly helps with the disguise. Thus, it is possible that Mew could inhabit other areas of the universe, and whether it originates from this world at all is debatable. To add credit to the theory, Mew can survive in the vacuum of space. Never thought about it that way, huh?" The Time Lord received several head shakes from the students.

"He really loves to hear himself talk..." muttered Rory.

Amy nodded. "That's who he is. Still, a Pokemon that evolved into many others..."

"Well, they have to come from somewhere. Wonder where Arceus and Mew came from then?"

Ignoring the murmurs of his companions, the Doctor changed the image of Mew to one of Lunatone and Solrock. "And here we have Lunatone and Solrock, found largely in the Meteor Falls cave of Hoenn. If you look closely, they're obviously shaped like the moon and the sun, respectively. Like Cleffa, they were discovered near the landing sites of meteorites. First discovered forty years ago in 1971, and said to be from the moon, Lunatone's physical health is connected to the phases of the moon. When there is a full moon, Lunatone is at the peak of its strength, and is supposedly defenseless in a new moon. A Pokemon said to be from the sun, Solrock thrives on exposure to solar energy. Both Pokemon are capable of reading the minds of other lifeforms, communicating with telepathy, and hypnotizing others if they feel threatened. Still means someone could know about them, as he would retain his memories of seeing them, even if they put him to sleep."

The Time Lord smiled at the students before changing the image to one of Jirachi with a wave of the sonic screwdriver. "Now, this is Jirachi, a Legendary Pokemon renowned for its ability to grant wishes. I like wishing. Do you like wishing? Maybe a fantasy you want to come true? Don't worry, I won't laugh." The Doctor received a few slow nods. "Shy? Come on, everyone must have something they desire. Let me see it!" Almost all the students nodded this time around. "Great! Wishes can always come true! You mustn't ever give up! Why, Amy here wished that she could travel with me. For fourteen years! Fourteen! Can you all believe that?"

Amy's face became red from embarrassment. "Doctor!"

The Time Lord chuckled. "Her wish came true if that's what you're asking."

"So are you now, you know, _happily together_? As in_ dating _**(8)**?" asked a girl.

The Doctor quickly shook his head. "Oh no, Rory is her husband. I'm someone she dreamed about a lot."

"So, she dreams about you and marries him? Sounds like she can't make up her mind. But you and her act like an old married couple. I thought he was just your friend or something."

Amy giggled. "This is just like Venice all over again **(9)**."

Rory rolled his eyes. "Why do so many people think Amy's your wife and I'm just a tag-a-long friend? _Thanks_, Doctor."

"Gosh, even the kids notice." muttered the Time Lord before he turned to the students. "Just to clarify, everyone! Rory's her husband. I'm their friend. Okay?" The students nodded. "Good. Now back to Jirachi. It spends most of its time in hibernation, living in the mountains of Hoenn, and only awakens once every millennium, when a human sings to it in a pure voice. Its awakening coincides with the flyby of the Millennium Comet, a long-period comet that, as its name suggests, is visible from this world every thousand years. See that curved seam on Jirachi's belly? That conceals a third eye, called the 'Eye of Truth'. When it is awake, Jirachi uses that eye to absorb energy from the passing Millennium Comet in preparation for its next hibernation."

Amy rolled her eyes. "So it just wakes up, 'eats', and goes back to sleep, and _maybe_ grants some wishes. Sounds lazy to me."

"_Shut up_, Pond. Now, Jirachi actually plays a vital role in its environment. The energy it absorbs from the Millennium Comet is released into its surroundings over the course of a millennium, which has the purpose of rejuvenating the environment itself, keeping a sort of balance, if you will. How is Jirachi extraterrestrial? It came down to this world from the Millennium Comet itself."

"So the comet reminds it of its origins?" asked a girl.

The Doctor twirled his sonic screwdriver in his hand. "Right you are. Moving on." He changed the image to another one. "And these are the four formes of Deoxys, a Legendary Pokemon _definitively_ confirmed to have come from space. It arrived on this world in the form of a space virus encapsulated in a meteor, and was exposed to a laser beam. The radiation mutated the virus' DNA into this Pokemon. It has the rare ability to change its appearance to suit its purposes, something that few other Pokemon possess. Apart from the Normal Forme, its "default" forme, its Attack Forme was designed to combat Pokemon native to this world. Its Defense Forme was useful to protect itself from such Pokemon, and its Speed Forme was useful for fleeing from threats. These formes in combination with its ability to regenerate lost body parts allowed it to survive quite well in this world actually, though it generally keeps to itself. Like Mew, Deoxys is not unique however, and it can communicate with others of its kind by creating an aurora. Imagine how many virus-inhabiting meteorites that makes."

The Doctor managed to obtain a few thoughtful glances before he changed the image with a flick of his sonic screwdriver. The new image depicted two creatures. The smaller creature was light gray, and had an oblong, gray head with depressions on either side. It had green eyes and black, symmetrical lines going down the front of its head. Its thin arms had three digits, coloured red, green, and yellow. It also had stubby legs and a small tail. The larger creature was brown with a similar shaped head to the smaller creature. It had green eyes with black pupils and four dots on its chest. Its arms and legs were similar to that of the smaller creature, and it had a rim underneath its main body. "Now, this year marks a special event. It is the fiftieth anniversary of the first sightings of Elgyem and its evolution Beheeyem in this world. Very creative names, if I do say so myself."

Amy scoffed. "Creative? L.G.M. as in 'little green men'? B.E.M. as in 'bug-eyed monsters'? What, did the discoverer watch some bad sci-fi film before noticing them?"

The Doctor crossed his arms and huffed before writing the names of the two Pokemon on the whiteboard. "It's Elgyem and Beheeyem, Pond."

A boy chuckled. "Your assistant doesn't know how to pronounce Pokemon names properly? Her vocabulary sucks."

Amy narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Look here young man, you are not too big for me to spank.*****"

The Time Lord huffed in irritation. "Are you two quite done? You're interrupting my lecture on two of the _most brillant_ Pokemon species to ever exist." Amy and the boy slowly nodded. "Good. Now shut up! Anyway, Elgyem and Beheeyem were first sighted in 1961 in the Desert Resort. It is _unknown_ how or why they appeared, as they have not been seen there ever since, save for some extremely rare sightings near the Relic Castle. Nowadays, people have reported sightings of them in the Celestial Tower and Route 14. I suppose you can credit their ability to rewrite the memories of the people and other Pokemon as a reason for their survival here. For those reasons, it is very rare to find an Elgyem or Beheeyem in a Trainer's possession. They are very elusive Pokemon. Researchers have theorized that the relocation of most of their numbers is due to the presence of dark-type Pokemon like Sandile and Scraggy in the desert. Who doesn't love a good mystery?"

Rory smiled. "This stuff always fascinates me **(10)**."

His wife shook her head. "Geek."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "There's just one last Pokemon in this part of my lecture." He changed the image of Elgyem and Beheeyem to one of a gray and blue colored draconian creature. Its blue head resembled bone, and had protruding jaws and pointed horns with a yellow crest in the middle. Its body was gray and it had very slender limbs. It also had unusually shaped jagged blue wings with two icicles protruding out of the end of each wing. Three blue icicle-shaped spikes protruded from the tip of its gray tail. The Time Lord began to pace left and right along the front of the classroom. "This is the Legendary Pokemon Kyurem, who resides in the Giant Chasm on the outskirts of Lacunosa Town in this region. An old legend holds that it fell there in a meteor, and began sneaking into town, consuming people and other Pokemon for food. It was for this reason that the people there constructed a wall to keep Kyurem out, and stay inside their homes at night. Personally, I doubt the validity of that story, as do residents of the town today, though they still stay inside at night. An alternative legend states that Kyurem was created on the day the two princes _died_ and their dragons were born, Kyurem being the leftover corpse of the original dragon Pokemon that split into Zekrom and Reshi-" The Doctor was unable to finish his sentence, in his pacing back and forth across the room, he failed to notice that his foot had snagged upon a table leg, causing him to trip and fall flat on his face. Rory and Amy began to laugh at his predicament.

"You okay, Professor Smith?" asked a boy.

The Time Lord got the his feet and shot a brief dark look at Rory and Amy, succeeding in silencing them, though they continued to smirk. "Want to hear my personal theory? I think that the original dragon Pokemon itself is extraterrestrial. Why? According to records, it appeared on the scene when the previous ruler, the princes' father, took the throne. No one had ever seen it before that, and the king sure was tight-lipped about where he found it. Well, the king didn't rule for long, he died four years after his coronation. In his time, Unova was a loose confederation of armed forts, which though prosperous, had little communication with each other. The king simply ruled the largest fort for himself, which had the Relic Castle in the center. It was through the two princes that the region began to unify, and the forts developed into proper towns and cities, functioning as a coherent kingdom. That is a reason why the princes are called the 'founders of Unova', though their approaches were very different. The White Prince did it through persuasion and compromise, the Black Prince did it through suppression and bloodshed. Interesting eh? Now if I could get Professor Juniper and other researchers to accept this."

"How could they not? It is interesting."

The Doctor beamed. "Thank you. Looks like it's time for recess. Oh yes." He took his Pokeballs and sent out Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. "These are the starter Pokemon offered to beginning Trainers of Unova. The grass-type Snivy, fire-type Tepig, and water-type Oshawott. Feel free to play with them for a bit and get a feel for their character and attacks. Perhaps that might help you make your decision." Turning off the projector, he turned to his companions. "Maybe you should lend them your Pokemon as well." Rory and Amy shrugged, sending Audino and Lillipup off with the students.

When the classroom was vacated, Rory shrugged. "So, out of curiosity, I wonder how long Nurse Joy will be posted here? Coincidental that the same woman from Accumula Town moved to work up here, in the same direction as our travels, eh? And she even arrived in Striaton City before we did, since she was at the reception desk when we left Accumula Town."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nurse Joy at the Striaton City Pokemon Centre. She moved here from the facility at Accumula Town, right?"

"What in the name of Gallifrey are you talking about? The Nurse Joy at Accumula Town and the one at Striaton City are two different women!"

Rory widened his eyes in disbelief. "They have the same name and appearance! How can they _not_ be the same person? Unless they're twins?"

"'Joy' is a family name. You'll find many women named that across the regions in this world, all staffing a Pokemon Center. It's a dynasty of sorts. And they all look the same." explained the Doctor.

Rory was convinced that the Doctor was toying with him. "Oh come on, Doctor, even if they all are related by blood, how can they all look the same? The rules of genetics should make that impossible, what with unique DNA and all."

"Don't believe me? Here." The Doctor pulled out a photograph from his pocket and handed it to Rory, depicting several women whose appearance was identical to the Nurse Joys they had already met. They were also dressed identically.

"T-They all l-look t-t-the same!"

The Time Lord look smugly at the nurse. "Told you so."

Amy gave the Doctor a suspicious look. "So Doctor, why do you have a photo of all those women?"

The Time Lord began to stutter. "U-Uh w-well, I-I happened t-to... Oh _shut up_, Pond." His response elicited a smirk from the woman.

Rory peered at the photo. "Was this Photoshopped or something?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No."

"Then how are they all identical?"

"Dunno, actually. Theories abound, but my favourite is that they aren't human."

Amy rolled her eyes. "What, you think they're aliens, Doctor?"

"Because I just talked about extraterrestrial Pokemon? I wouldn't go as far as to say that." said the Time Lord.

"Maybe they're clones? Like Sontarans **(11)**?"

"Then they would just need to clone themselves. No. I know for a fact that some of them get married and have children, and if the kids are girls, they look like miniature versions of their mothers. Guess it's just a big mystery."

Amy shrugged and decided to change the subject. "Fine. Anyway, who names Pokemon 'L.G.M.' and 'B.E.M.' anyway? That sounds cliche and highly unoriginal."

The Doctor looked highly offended by Amy's comment. "Oi! I thought those were fine names, since they were thought up by yours tru-... Uh, I mean, some _creative bloke_... who uh, came up with... Well, you know. And you're mispronouncing it. It's _Elgyem_ and _Beheeyem_!" The Time Lord's comments earned him suspicious glances from his companions.

Rory was puzzled. "Well, _who_ discovered them anyway? You know, since they keep wiping peoples' memory everytime they are seen."

The Doctor bit his lip. "Um well, I-I'm not t-too sure. Just know t-that h-he's really c-creative. But he, dunno who he is the way, must have s-spotted them in the Desert Resort in 1961. Y-You k-know, so records could b-be made."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "And the names?"

"Uh, Pokemon repeat their own names, they're just named after the sounds that they make."

"You just said that _someone creative_ came up with the names!"'

"Well, maybe the spelling of the names then. Yes, spelling. L-Let's j-just g-go with that. They're certainly not spelled 'L.G.M.' and 'B.E.M.' now, are they?"

Amy sighed. "So, we'll have to go through a desert eventually?"

Before the Doctor could reply, the students streamed into the room. "Oh, looks like recess is over." He turned to the students as his Pokemon and those of his companions returned to their respective Trainers. "So, had fun?" The Time Lord received several comments in the affirmative. "That's good. To respect your privacy and the feelings of the Pokemon, I'm not going to ask if any of you made a decision on your future starter choice." He returned his Pokemon, while Rory and Amy did likewise with theirs. "Now before recess, I talked about extraterrestrial Pokemon. These Pokemon, which hail from other worlds, are proof that life exists out there, that on planets in some far off corner of the galaxy, nature thrives, just as the White Prince wanted. A big fan of nature, he was." The Doctor frowned briefly. "He never really enjoyed the rapid leaps in technology brought in by his _brother_. He thought it was dangerous for people to utilize advanced technology ahead of their time. Extraterrestrial Pokemon are strongly associated with the White Prince because he had a theory that this world wasn't the only one with Pokemon, and that obviously was definitively proven right when Elgyem and Beheeyem were found_. _Too bad the association was made after he was _long dead_. Anyway, now we'll move on to a group of Pokemon strongly associated with the Black Prince due to his obssession with obtaining the best technology at all times." The Doctor paused briefly before continuing. "Artificial Pokemon."

* * *

Author's notes: Well, that wraps up this chapter. No OCs here, incidentally. I think the next chapter or two might go without featuring OCs as well. Here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) In the episode "The Lodger", the Doctor was trying to rent a room and flashed his psychic paper at the landlord in lieu of credentials. One of the fake crudentials the psychic paper displayed was a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the landlord's surprise. The Doctor explained this by saying that he was the Archbishop's "special favourite".

(2) In the episode "The Eleventh Hour", an apple was the first food the Doctor's eleventh incarnation ate, offered by a young Amy. He quickly found that he disliked them.

(3) One reason the Doctor invited Amy to travel with him in the TARDIS was because she claimed that she "grew up" and was too old to believe in things like him. The Time Lord immediately resolved to "fix that problem".

(4) In the episode "The Hungry Earth", distracted by getting a machine to work, the Doctor allowed a boy named Eliott to retrieve his headphones from his house, despite the fact that the village they were in was in immediate risk of being attacked by a race of creatures living underground called the Silurians.

(5) The Doctor made a live appearance at the 2010 "Doctor Who at the Proms" music event held at the Royal Albert Hall, which perfomed compositions of pieces from the show. He enlisted the help of an audience member to diffuse a bomb at the concert hall, and chose a boy named Ellis for the task.

(6) Despite its thousands of applications, the sonic screwdriver is considered to be "basic" Time Lord technology, with many Time Lords capable of creating one from scratch.

(7) As an alien, the Doctor's tenth incarnation was described as a man who "came from the stars" in the episode "The Family of Blood", by Joan Redfern, a woman who fell in love with him.

(8) A running gag in the show comes from many people frequently thinking that the Doctor and Amy are romantically connected, due to the fact that Rory was absent in some episodes where they traveled together.

(9) In the episode "The Vampires of Venice", when required to infiltrate a suspicious school, Amy decided to have the Doctor pose as her fiancee, and Rory as her brother, much to Rory's chagrin. For his credit, the Doctor first wanted Amy to pose as his daughter, briefly forgetting about his eleventh incarnation's youthful appearance, before changing it to her brother.

(10) Rory has a great interest in many forms of scientific phenomena, and quickly figured out why the TARDIS was bigger on the inside than on the outside when he first stepped inside, to the Doctor's disappointment, since he liked seeing the surprised looks on his new companions' faces at the TARDIS interior.

(11) The Sontarans are a race of aliens identical to each other, due to being clones bred for the sole purpose as soldiers to wage intergalactic war.

* Credit for the use of this line goes to Master of the Boot.

I am still taking OCs for this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.


	16. Technology's Blessing or Curse

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"To conquer nature is, in effect, to remove all natural barriers and human norms and to substitute artificial, fabricated equivalents for natural processes."_ - Alex Campbell

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 16: Technology's Blessing or Curse**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Trainer's School, Ms. Pearson's Classroom, January 5, 2011, 11 a.m.)_

In her surprise, Amy blurted out. "There are Pokemon that are artificial?" The students stared wide-eyed at her, causing Amy to realize that perhaps she had spoken a tad too loudly.

A boy chuckled. "Your assistant doesn't know there are manmade Pokemon? Maybe you should fire her and send them back to school. Dunno about the guy, he's fairly quiet."

Amy glared at the boy. "Oh, what do you know, kid?"

"More than you, it seems."

"Why, you little..."

The Doctor's eyes began to twitch before he narrowed them and screamed at the top of his lungs. "SHUT UP **(1)**!" After obtaining the desired effect, he looked around the room. "Blimey, that was rude." He pulled down a lock of his dark hair into his eyes and briefly peered at it. "And I'm still not ginger **(2)**. Yep, definitely what I am now, rude and not ginger **(3)**." The Time Lord received several nods. He shrugged, and returned to his casual demeanor. "Anyway, now that I have everyone's _full attention_, on to the topic at hand. Artificial Pokemon. This world boasts a long history spanning the last few centuries, which is punctuated by the development of several advances in technology. Among this technology is the ability to create artificial Pokemon, Pokemon that have not emerged naturally, but have been created, either through experiments or indirect means. Do you all want to know what is truly astounding?"

"What?" asked a girl.

The Time Lord pulled out his sonic screwdriver and tossed it into the air before catching it. "These Pokemon, other than being artificially created, are no different from natural Pokemon. They can breed, evolve, be found in the wild, and be captured and trained just as ordinary Pokémon would. Even these Pokemon have DNA which draws from the genetic code of Mew, the supposed ancestor of most other Pokemon besides these ones."

Rory was puzzled. "How on Earth is that possible?" Amy simply shrugged.

The Doctor twirled the sonic screwdriver briefly in his hand before using it to switch the projector back on. An image of Grimer and Muk appeared. "Now to start, this is Grimer and its evolution Muk."

"Those things look disgusting." Amy quietly muttered, a comment that the Time Lord decided to ignore.

"Grimer was created from human pollution in streams exposed to x-rays from the Moon. Well, fun fact. Said x-rays actually originate from the Sun. These x-rays are produced when solar wind strikes the lunar surface and causes it to fluoresce. The solar wind knocks electrons from atoms on the moon, and when other electrons take their place, they give off their excess energy in the form of x-rays, which consequently wind up being beamed to this world."

Rory scratched his head and muttered to himself. "Did the kids actually understand that?"

"They are found in polluted areas, such as murky water and drains, in Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Gives you an idea as to where people are illegally dumping garbage, eh? Because of the nature of its development, Grimer is highly toxic and emits quite a foul odor. Weeds won't even grow for a while where it has been. I hear Officer Jennys make synthetic versions and use it in riot control. As for Muk, a single drop of it can make an entire lake stagnant and rancid. Anyhow, their footprints are toxic enough for a person to contract influenza if they are touched, which is strange. Why? Because Muk doesn't have feet, let alone footprints. I must remember to tell the researcher who wrote that to revise it. Fortunately, both of these Pokemon have the ability to control their toxins, as they would likely not want to pollute a river on purpose or spread any harmful diseases. Thus, they can exist in the environment without it becoming hazardous to other life forms. And so, they're not that bad at all. But still, watch where you throw your garbage, lest you wind up with a Grimer on your hands."

"Garbage becoming a Pokemon, that's a-an intriguing yet s-scary thought." muttered Rory.

"This world just continues to surprise, even though it's a lot like Earth from the outset." replied Amy.

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to change the image to one of a Voltorb and Electrode. "And here we have Voltorb, which evolves into Electrode. Can anyone tell me what they resemble?" A girl raised her hand. "Yes?"

The girl put down her hand. "Pokeballs?"

The Time Lord beamed. "Correct. A common sight in power plants in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, these two Pokemon do resemble those spheres. And what do you know? They were first seen in the plant where modern Pokeballs were invented. The common theory is that the first Voltorb came about when an unknown but mysterious and powerful form of energy struck a Pokeball, giving it a life of its own. Voltorb and Electrode are highly volatile and prone to exploding at even the slightest stimuli. Due to its shape, Voltorb is frequently mistaken for a Pokeball and picked up, causing it to explode or electrocute on touch. Yep, a lot of people have wound up in hospital because of this thing. Really a good way to mess up your day. Anyway, let's move on." A flick of the sonic screwdriver changed the image to one of Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z. "Who has seen the news once in a while?" The Time Lord received several raised hands. "Okay, any word on these Pokemon?" Some students nodded. "Now, who can tell me what they are?"

Ellis spoke. "The sharp, edged little one is Porygon, and it evolves into Porygon2, the one that looks like it but er, smoother?"

"You're doing well, carry on."

"Er, that one with the floaty head and yellow eyes is er, Porygon-Z?"

The Doctor clapped a few times. "Bravo! Let's give our friend Ellis here another big hand!" The boy received the applause the Doctor ordered before he decided to move on. "Now, Porygon here is the _second_ Pokemon that was created deliberately by humans."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "So what's the first?"

The nurse receieved a few laughs from the students for his lack of knowledge on the subject. "Professor Smith's assistants really don't know anything!"

Amy shot the students a dark look before turning to her husband. "You know Rory, maybe you shouldn't have asked. For nothing, we get laughed at again. The Doctor's talking about artificial Pokemon, isn't he? I'm sure he would have answered your question by himself later in his lecture."

The Doctor raised a hand for silence, which he received. His back to Rory and Amy, he spoke without turning to face them. "To answer your question Rory, Golett was the first Pokemon humans created, and I'll get to it later."

Amy began to mutter to Rory. "Told you so." Rory simply averted his wife's gaze in embarrassment.

The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Now where was I?" The Time Lord stared at the image on the whiteboard briefly. "Ah yes, our good friend Porygon here. It was the result of an experiment by the Pokemon Lab on Cinnabar Island in Kanto, through research funded by Silph Co., a Kanto-based research company. They called it the first 'virtual-reality Pokemon', able to exist in cyberspace due to being composed completely of computer data and programming. It can zip into and out of your computer at will and travel through the internet! How amazing is that? Well, when you make something really amazing, you would want to protect your rights to it, lest someone else steals it or claims credit. And that's exactly what the company did, since Porygon's creation was such a media sensation, which I'm sure you've heard. Porygon is prone to duplication by others since it's made of data, so Silph Co. built copyright protection into its code, preventing duplication through electronic means. Not foolproof, I can tell you."

"What do you mean?" asked a boy.

"You know those shady Game Corners your parents tell you to stay away from? Those that sometimes give away Pokemon for prizes?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'll tell you as well, stay away from them. There are monsters in there waiting to eat you... Very, very, very scarrrry monsters..." The Doctor let out a laugh for a few seconds before regaining his composure, causing Rory and Amy to roll their eyes at him. "Just kidding. But seriously, stay away from them. Anyway, you may have noticed that they give away Porygon as prizes. Very desirable, since it's rare, and almost never found in the wild, due to its artificial nature. Well, they give away a good number of Porygon a year. And how do you think they managed to get so many Porygon?" The Time Lord received a brief silence before he decided to answer his own question. "They hacked Porygon's data and disabled the copyright protection so they could duplicate it as many times as they want, that's how. It's just like downloading music or videos. A free copy is just duplicated whenever you do that."

"I'm guessing that's illegal..." muttered Amy to herself.

The Doctor adressed his companion without looking at her. "Of course it's illegal, Pond. And that's why those people that run the game corners are bad news. And strangely enough, Porygon can be hatched from an egg, despite being man-made, composed of only computer data. I suspect that the people who created it may have snuck in some of Mew's genes in the programming. Now, when you make something good, you might want to improve it after a while, seeing how well-received it was." The Time Lord reached into a jacket pocket and placed a clear CD case with a disk inside, on the teacher's desk. Who can tell me what this is?"

"An Up-Grade?" asked a girl.

"Yes this is an Up-Grade. It's a one-time use CD manufactured by Silph Co. that modifies Porygon's data and improves it, refining it into Porygon2, its first evolution. Notice the smoother edges and more polished sides. Each polygonal face of Porygon was subdivided into smaller faces that better approximate Porygon2's smooth surface. Now, Porygon2 was designed to work in and explore space. That didn't work out too well. Why? It can't fly." He received several laughs from both the students and his companions in response. "Yeah, that wasn't planned out so well. But, even though its intelligence is artificial, Porygon2 is capable of learning new things and showing emotion, while Porygon could only do what was put into its programming, which is an improvement in itself." The Doctor pulled out another CD case, which was purple with a purple disk inside. "Now who knows what this is? Anyone?" The Doctor received a short silence before he decided to answer his own question. "Now this is why you shouldn't use software that you're unfamiliar with. This is a Dubious Disk. As it's name suggests, it contains data that is hacked from Silph Co.'s databases as well as some unlicensed pirated content. There could be risque material on this thing for all I know, but I'm not going to check." Rory and Amy began to chuckle behind the Time Lord's back, but he silenced them with a quick glance. "Anyway, I'm not surprised that you kids haven't heard of this disk. It was made by software pirates trying to further upgrade Porygon2. As you can see from the picture, it didn't work out so well. The Dubious Disk is chock full of computer viruses. Nasty ones. Very nasty ones. Very, very nasty ones. Very, very, very nasty ones. Porygon-Z was conceived with the idea of it being able to not only travel into space, but also access alternate dimensions. Needless to say, like its pre-evolution, things didn't work out so well. But it turned out worst for Porygon-Z than Porygon2. While it may have become stronger, Porygon-Z certainly began to exhibit odd behavior and erratic movements. I can tell you that the software pirates didn't intend for it to look like that. Its head's upside down and it body is well, at an odd posture. Not to mention that its eyes look like they're dazed." The Doctor jerked a thumb at the Virtual Pokemon's picture.

Amy stared at the image. "Its pre-evolutions were somewhat cute, but it looks like it's sick."

Rory shrugged. "That's what happens when people who don't know what they're doing, tamper with data. Things can go horribly wrong."

"Is it supposed to be alive? The Doctor said that Porygon-Z and its pre-evolutions are data."

"He also said that Pokemon were intelligent enough to understand humans to a great extene. Who's to say it doesn't have a soul? I'm not sure if it's evolution from Porygon2 is a good thing or not. It got stronger, but became more manic and erratic."

Amy's response was frank. "It's data. And it sounds like those research people are exploiting it with all those modifications and upgrades. Then again." She paused briefly and lowered her head, softening her voice to almost a whisper. "My Lillipup. He was abused and exploited. Professor Juniper said so."

"What measure is a non-human? I suppose it's fortunate for most Pokemon that their Trainers care for them."

The Doctor continued to talk. "Researcher aren't sure if Porygon-Z's odd behavior is intentional or a because of a glitch, but they strongly suspect the latter, considering the viruses on the Dubious Disc which may or may not be responsible. Despite that, and the fact that it never went into space or an alien dimension, it's still a fine Pokemon that would make a good partner to a Trainer. Anyway, we should probably move on."

A flick of the sonic screwdriver changed the image on the whiteboard to that of Mewtwo. "Ah, Mewtwo. A Legendary Pokemon crafted by a criminal organization based in Kanto and Johto known as Team Rocket. They planned for it to be the most powerful Pokemon that ever lived. And like Porygon2 and Porygon-Z, things didn't work out so well. Now Mewtwo is a clone of Mew, created from Mew's DNA via gene splicing to get rid of any 'genetic impurities' and amplify its psychic powers. Obviously, the genetic splicing didn't make Mewtwo an _exact_ clone. Notice the somewhat artificial appearance compared to Mew, most notably the tube protruding from the back of its neck. I believe that it is a secondary spinal cord or system of nerves, to allow for an increased amount of blood and sensory transmission to the brain, consequently heightening its psychic powers. Team Rocket wanted to exploit and use it as an ultimate soldier to take over the world, and even tortured it at times, but it had its own conscious and broke free from their control. Originally highly aggressive and violent due to the gene splicing and circumstances of its creation, it has witnessed the fact that some humans are capable of tremendous good and now traverses the globe in a quest to find its place in the world and purpose in life."

"The way one was born can lead to such questioning." mused Rory.

Amy nodded. "At least it now knows that humans aren't all bad. Team Rocket, or whoever they are must have messed it up badly when they created it."

"Like the Doctor did to you when he abandoned you as a kid?"

Amy narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Watch it, buster. I can't easily forget twelve years and four psychiatrists **(4)**."

"You didn't have to _bite_ them, you know."

"They kept saying that the Doctor wasn't real."

"Cut them some slack. That's what everyone in Leadworth thought."

The woman crossed her arms and huffed. "Oh, so you're saying that everyone in Leadworth thought I was crazy."

"Yeah, well I did too. You made me dress up as the Doctor whenever we played 'pretend' as kids. And kept making me eat fish fingers and custard** (5)**."

Amy punched her husband in the arm lightly before lowering her head. "Fair enough. How many people would believe that the TARDIS exists without seeing it?"

"At least your imaginary friend proved to be real." remarked Rory.

The woman gave the Doctor's back a calm look. "And he might be more than that... There's definitely more to him than what you can see."

The Doctor proceeded to change the image once again. "And now this is Castform and its various forms. It was created by scientists at the Weather Institute in Hoenn to help in the prediction of the weather. Its ability Forecast allows it to change its form and type with the weather, achieved by the fact that its molecules are like those of water, shifting and adapting its form based on the temperature and humidity. Its special move, Weather Ball, changes its type based on the weather as well. And now, moving on." The Time Lord changed the image to one of two creatures. The smaller creature resembled a full, green garbage bag that was knotted on top. It had oval-shaped eyes and a toothy mouth, and arms that looked like trash spilling out of small tears in the bag, decorated by pink and blue colored objects. Their feet were green and stubby. The larger creature resembled a garbage bag that was ripped on the bottom, spilling out garbage that formed its lumpy body, punctuated by the presence of pink and blue colored objects. It had two round ears and arms made from piping and garbage. It had one finger on its left hand, and three on its right hand. It also had flat, dumpy feet. "Found near garbage dumps in Unova, this is Trubbish and its evolution Garbodor."

Amy wrinkled her face in disgust at the image. "I take back what I said about Grimer and Muk. These things look definitely _more_ disgusting."

The Doctor let out a brief sigh, wishing that his companion would keep her comments to herself, before he continued. "Like Grimer, Trubbish is a Pokemon borne from pollution, created due to an unusual chemical reaction between garbage bags and the industrial waste inside. The gases it emits may very well render you bedridden for a week if you breathe them in. Not fun, I can tell you, though arguably not as dangerous as Grimer. Like Grimer, Trubbish's gases have been used by Officer Jennys to control riots. Now Garbodor is able to spray poisonous gas or filth from its fingertips, but only from its right hand. It likes to finish off opponents by subduing them with its left arm and spewing toxic gas from its mouth. Very potent stuff, actually." The Doctor's next comment earned him a few disgusted looks from the students. "Personally, I think they're somewhat cute, actually."

Amy sighed. "The Doctor is weird."

Rory chuckled. "You just noticed?"

"No, noticed it a long time ago."

By this time, the Doctor had used his sonic screwdriver to change the image of Trubbish and Garbodor to another one of two creatures. The smaller creature had a vague humanoid shape with a round body and small head and limbs. Its body was colored in varying portions of light blue and dark blue, and it had yellow eyes. Attached to its body with brown straps was a blue diamond-shaped disk with a yellow swirl. The larger creature resembled a massive suit of armor with a small head and brown bangles on its limbs. There were yellow swirls on its shoulders and the backs of its hands. A yellow crack across its chest was sealed with a brown patch. Its waist resembled a Roman-style skirt and its body shared the same coloration as the smaller creature. "Now these are the very first Pokemon created by humans, Golett and its evolution Golurk. They were created many centuries ago to protect people and Pokemon alike. _Yeah right._"

The last two words of the Doctor's comments surprised his companions and several students. "Why do you say that, Professor Smith?" asked a girl.

"Because here's the truth. They were created by the Black Prince, and that's what _he_ claimed they were created for."

"How did he do it?"

"He used concrete made by Conkeldurr, as well as a special item called the Light Clay to sculpt their bodies. To give them life, he infused their interior body cavities with a core containing a very unusual form of energy. This energy enables them to move and think, and what's special about it is that when a Golett or Golurk reproduces, some of the energy from the parent is leeched into the offspring, giving the offspring its own energy core. I guess what's stopping people from creating more Golett is the fact that no one knows what sort of energy it is. Its properties continue to baffle researchers to this day..." The Doctor closed his eyes and allowed a mental image to emerge in his mind.

_A man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties raised an eyebrow in curiousity as he walked into a room pass a gathering of many creatures, all of which were sepia-colored and had muscular upper bodies and thin legs. They had large red noses and small, gray beard-like turfs on their chins. They had bulbous features on the backs of their heads and thick violet bands and bulges adorned their shoulders, chest, back and thighs. Each carried two concrete pillars in their hands. Upon entering the large room, he saw a man who shared his hairstyle, except for the fact that the other man's hair was dark-colored. The other man's back was turned to the blonde haired man. Several Golett stood motionless in the room._

_The blonde haired man cleared his throat, gaining the dark haired man's attention. "Two questions. One, why are there so many Conkeldurr in here? And two, what in the name of Gallifrey are these little green creatures, hmmm?"_

_The dark haired man smirked. "The Conkeldurr are here to assist me in the construction of my creations. Behold, a new Pokemon I call Golett."_

_"And why are you creating these things? Eh? Perversions of nature..."_

_The dark haired man sneered. "You and your nature. The world is moving forward and soon you will be left behind." He stared at the many assembled Golett. "Are they not magnificent?"_

_The blonde haired man rolled his eyes. "How did you create them, and what do you need them for?"_

_"Their bodies are made from a special compound composed of Light Clay mixed with concrete from the Conkeldurr. Now all I have to do is give them each a core of artron energy to make them move."_

_"Where are you going to find the energy, eh?"_

_The dark haired man shrugged. "Just leech it off the power cores of the rental TARDIS."_

_The blonde haired man narrowed his eyes. "You had better not drain so much to render that TARDIS inoperable."_

_"Oh relax."_

_"And why do you need to create these...Golett?"_

_"Why, their creation is for the benefit of Unova itself. These Golett have been tasked with patrolling the forts for the protection of the region. And when they grow strong enough, they will evolve into a larger Pokemon called Golurk."_

_The blonde haired man's visage bore a skeptical expression. "Hmmm? Am I supposed to believe that? You plan on having them slaughter everyone in Unova one day, do you not? With them in the forts, they will be in close proximity to people!"_

_The dark haired man turned his back on the other man and waved him off with a dismissive hand gesture. "That remains to be seen, does it not? Now leave! I have work to complete."_

_The blonde haired man rolled his eyes before sighing, complying with the other man's request._

A feminine voice broke the Doctor's concentration. "Doctor!"

He felt a hand grasp his shoulder and shake him slightly, prompting him to open his eyes, noticing that it was Amy who brought him out of his reverie. "W-What is it, Pond?"

"You were spacing out."

"Oh was I? In that case, sorry everyone. Anyways, like Elgyem and Beheeyem, it is very rare to see a Golett or Golurk in a Trainer's possession. I suppose it's probably due to the negative publicity they garnered for being created by the Black Prince. In fact, shortly after the deaths of the two princes, the Golett and Golurk were exiled from Unova's settlements. No doubt the Black Prince had a more sinister agenda in mind when he created them."

The Doctor cleared his throat before continuing. "Of course, apart from artificial Pokemon, there are also Pokemon that have formed naturally, but can be altered by human involvement. Take Burmy and Wormadam for example. Burmy create outer cloaks out of their habitat, which may be composed of natural materials, as seen in its Plant Cloak or Sandy Cloak, or of artificial building insulation as seen in its Trash Cloak. Burmy can change its cloak depending on the area it is used to battle in. And when female Burmy evolve into Wormadam, they permanently retain the last cloak they had as a Burmy, and adopt a secondary type based on the cloak. The Grass Cloak grants them the grass-type and the Snady Cloak, the ground-type. Or she could have the artificial Trash Cloak. In that case, she will gain a steel-type. Therefore, the Wormadam's cloak and typing was influenced by humans. Then there's Rotom, an electric and ghost-type Pokemon who has the ability to take possession of appliances such as toasters, washing machines, refrigerators, electric fans and lawnmowers. Because of that, Rotom can learn moves of different types and change its ghost-type to one relevant to the appliance it is currently possessing."

The Time Lord turned off the projector. "And so, artificial Pokemon stand as a testament to what technology is capable of, to the extent that entire species of Pokemon can be formed where they did not exist before. While this can benefit us, we must be careful of what emerges from that technology, lest it proves to have detrimental consequences. Nonetheless, any Pokemon, natural or artificial, terrrestrial or extraterrestrial, can just as easily be any Trainer's trusted partner. And that brings me to the end of my lecture, though it looks like we still have a few minutes to the bell. Before you go, I have one last thing to say which is true." Rory and Amy rolled their eyes. "Bow ties are cool."

The Doctor received several blank looks from the students before a boy spoke up. "Why? Because you're wearing one? They are so out of fashion."

The Time Lord frowned briefly. "They are so _not_ out of fashion! Besides, they have several advantages over normal ties. In fact, in light of those advantages, I don't know why I chose to wear a tie just a few years ago **(6)**. Granted, I might start wearing them again in the future. I just don't know yet."

The boy's curiosity was piqued. "What sort of advantages?"

"Well, for one, no one can use your bow tie as a leash to drag you around by the neck **(7)**." Narrowing his eyes, the Time Lord cast a brief glance at Amy while he spoke, earning himself a smirk from the woman. "And no one can trap your bow tie in a car door **(8)**, or staple it to a billboard, or get it caught in a paper shredder or the workings of a geared machine, or use it as a napkin to wipe their mouths, or transmit infection around on it when it dangles on stuff in a hospital, or get it stuck between elevator doors.

"Did all that stuff happen to you while you wore a tie?"

The Doctor chuckled awkwardly. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Is that why you chose to stop wearing a tie?"

"Again, I'd rather not talk about it."

Rory chuckled at the Doctor's uncomfortable expression before turning to his wife. "I suppose what you did to the Doctor's tie in Leadworth was the final straw for that article of clothing."

Amy sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Now he switched to bow ties and keeps insisting they are cool."

"That all blew up in your face, eh?" The woman simply rolled her eyes.

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "So if you keep wearing a tie, imagine the neck trauma." Most of the students had stunned looks on their faces. "Yeah, not good at all. Come to think about it, maybe all that could have been avoided if I wore a clip-on tie."

The same boy who questioned the Doctor on his bow tie laughed. "So all that stuff _did_ happen to your tie. Wow, that must suck."

The Time Lord sighed. "Yes, all that stuff happened to my tie."

"I don't mean to be frank, but how come you're not dead yet?" The Doctor was rendered speechless while Rory, Amy, and the rest of the students burst out laughing.

The Doctor eventually regained his ability to talk after being laughed at for several minutes. "Nevermind that! Now where was I? Ah yes, as I have mentioned bow ties have all those advantages over ties. Am I right?"

"Yeah! Bow ties are cool!" The boy received several murmurs of agreement from his classmates.

The Doctor strode over to his bag on the teacher's desk. "So, I have here some bow ties. Consider them a gift. And since many of you may not have the patience to tie one, they're all clip-ons." He placed the bag on a boy's desk. "Take one and pass the bag along." No sooner did the last student take a bow tie, did the school's bell ring. "Oh, there's the bell. Well, I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day."

"You're the best teacher ever, Professor Smith." remarked a girl.

The Time Lord beamed. "I am, aren't I?"

"Great, more people to feed the Doctor's ego." muttered Amy, as the students filed out the door, shouting praise at the Doctor along the way.

After the last student left the classroom, the Time Lord took out a paint scrapper, climbed onto a desk, and began to remove the spitballs stuck on the ceiling.

"And just like at the Striaton Gym, you've made more work for yourself, Doctor." said Amy.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh _shut up_, Pond. Personally, I sometimes see myself in kids like them."

"Oh? They remind you of when you were a boy and attended school?"

The Time Lord nodded. "Yeah."

"So how did you do there?"

The Doctor's response was quick and frank. "I failed and was kicked out **(9)**." The Time Lord closed his eyes, and a single teardrop ran down his face. _"I'm sorry... Rallon... Millennia... _**(10)**_"_

Amy began to laugh. "Oho! You made us look stupid during the class and you yourself didn't graduate from school!" The woman fell silent when the Doctor quickly wiped his eyes and turned around, giving her a warning glare, before diverting his face from her. "Oooo... Touchy... So things worked out nicely then. You found a lecture topic in your fellow extraterrestrials and some artificial Pokemon."

The Time Lord nodded. "I guess you could say that."

"And they got gifts from you. _Great_, that's another group who thinks bow ties are cool."

"Well, you helped in developing that opinion."

Amy huffed. "Must be a mistake on my part."

The Doctor stopped scrapping at a spitball and spun around. "Amelia Jessica Pond **(11)**! Why do you do this to me? First you change your name to dull and boring Amy, then you knock me out with a cricket bat, and then handcuff me, without a key, to a heater. Next, you proceed to drag me all over Leadworth by my tie, and then lock it in a car door. And that's _before_ you joined me in the TARDIS. Oh yes, there are _definitely no mixed signals_ there. If this was a few centuries ago, a certain white dragon will want to incinerate you for what you did to me."

"What?"

Rory piped up. "Yeah, Doctor, what are you talking about?"

The Doctor turned his back on his companions and resumed scrapping at a spitball. "Nevermind." _"If I ever meet that white dragon again, I hope it doesn't find out about what Amy did to me the second time I met her, lest it actually tries to kill her for it."_

Amy scratched her head briefly, trying to remember something before clicking her fingers. "Anyway, what was I saying before recess came around... Oh yes, we'll have to go through a desert sometime during our travels, right?"

The Doctor nodded, back still facing her, busying himself with removing the spitballs. "Yes Pond. We do. The Desert Resort, in between Castelia City and Nimbasa City."

"Sigh, it's stifling hot, and we'll get sand in our shoes."

"You'll have to deal with it, unfortunately. In case you don't know, the Desert Resort was ground zero for the fateful battle between the two brothers. Yes, that's right. Their castle, the Relic Castle, is located there, in ruins now because of the destruction wrought by their dragons."

Amy's eyes widened. "That means..."

The Doctor stepped forward on the desk, stretching to reach a spitball. "Yes, the Relic Castle is the birthplace of the two dragons. The destruction was so intense, so complete, that it decimated the immediate area surrounding it. The two dragons turned the area into a desert, where it remained that way ever since. That land took the brunt of all the destruction. Because of that, Castelia Town, which was once located around the castle, was forced to relocate to the south, past the desert at the end of the peninsula, where it became a port. I suppose it was a mixed blessing, because the town flourished due to a boom in the sea trade. Consequently, it eventually became that sprawling metropolis."

"So we'll be visiting the castle eventually?"

"Yes, but only the basements and some of the first floor is left. The day the structure came tumbling down, intense red fire exploded from the ground, burning around the base of the castle, making its way inside, and spreading to the upper floors. And the skies darkened, with blue lightning cascading down, striking the roofs and turrets, and blasting holes in them."

"So?"

"Like I said, in the castle began the initial stage of the battle between Zekrom and Reshi-... GAH!" The Doctor did not recieve the opportunity to finish his sentence, as he took a step forward on the desk to reach a spitball and unintentionally stepped off the edge. The Time Lord was sent sprawling face down to the floor. His paint scrapper, accidently thrown into the air when he fell, dropped and hit him on the head as he tried to get up, knocking him out.

Amy groaned and turned to her husband. "Great, the Doctor told the kids to knock themselves out, and he literally knocks himself out. Do we have to finish his work for him?"

Rory sighed. "Do we have a choice? You want to get out of here, don't you? Who knows how long the Doctor will be out?" The nurse picked up the Doctor's paint scrapper, climbed onto a desk, and continued the Time Lord's work.

"Be careful, Rory." said Amy.

"How come you didn't tell that to the Doctor?"

"He can take care of himself."

Rory rolled his eyes as he stretched to reach a spitball. "And you think I can't?"

Amy shook her head before looking down at her lap, her hands gripping her skirt. Teardrops began to stain that article of clothing. "No, I don't think that. You disappeared in a crack in time **(12)**, then when the Alliance struck **(13)**, you reappeared as an Auton **(14)** and watched over me in the Pandorica for almost 2000 years **(15)**."

Rory looked away in shame. "Yeah, but I almost killed you."

"You still saved me." A few more teardrops flowed down Amy's cheeks as she began to choke on her words. "I-I lost you so many times, forgot you even existed once, and it was by fortune that you came back because the Doctor rebooted the universe **(16)**. I-I don't want t-to l-lose you again, R-Rory. I-I l-love you." Rory set down the paint scrapper and climbed down from the desk, wrapping his arms around the weeping woman's back.

Pressing her face into her husband's chest, Amy continued to sob as she returned Rory's embrace, trying to pull away after a minute. "I-I'm s-sorry-y. I-I shouldn't be..."

Rory shook his head and drew Amy's right cheek to his chest. "Cry for as long as you want, Amy. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I love you too." The woman's eyes opened as a fresh stream of tears came. She relaxed herself in her husband's arms for the next several minutes.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 5, 2011, 12:15 p.m.)_

Ghetsis crossed his arms as he surveyed the six men sitting at the table around him. "The grunts arrived in Striaton City?"

The sixth man nodded. "Yes."

"Excellent."

The seventh man closed his eyes. "People can dream. And soon their dreams will become their salvation! They will hear the name of Plasma as they sleep."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Trainer's School, January 5, 2011, 12:45 p.m.)_

The Doctor rubbed his head as he walked out of the Trainer's School with his companions.

"Still disoriented, Doctor?" asked Rory.

The Time Lord shook his head to clear his vision. "Slightly, Rory. So what happened when I was out cold?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Rory had to finish your work for you. You were unconscious for what, half an hour? You're really clumsy, you know that?"

"Yes, thank you, Rory. No one's perfect, Amy. But everyone's amazing in their own way."

The woman gave the Time Lord a sly smile. "Which is just another way of saying no one is?"

The Time Lord narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Good use of a movie quote, but you're wrong about that, Pond."

Amy burst into laughter. "I was just joking, Doctor. Gosh, you can get so riled up sometimes."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

"That's your best comeback?" teased Amy. The Doctor huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, give the man a break, Amy." remarked Rory with a chuckle. "Alright, Doctor?"

Back turned to Rory and Amy, the Time Lord raised his arm and waved his companion off absent-mindedly as he walked away. "Yeah sure, Rory."

"You okay, Doctor?" asked Rory as he began to follow the Doctor with his wife.

"Just fine."

"You don't sound okay. If it's about Amy's teasing..."

"No, I'm used to that, Rory."

"Then what..."

The Doctor stopped and turned to the nurse, cutting his sentence off. "Have either of you ever gotten the feeling that something very amiss is going on right under your noses?" Rory and Amy found themselves unable to respond to the uneasy tone of the Doctor's voice, and a tense silence ensured. The silence was broken only a few seconds later by the ringing of the Doctor's Xtransceiver.

* * *

Author's notes: Hmmm... I think this may just be my last update for a while. My workload is slowly creeping up to me. Anyway, here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation is known to explode with anger at everyone around him if he is sufficiently irritated.

(2) The Doctor's tenth and eleventh incarnations have expressed a wish to be ginger-haired, and were disappointed not to be when they recently regenerated.

(3) This is a reference to a comment made by the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the episode "The Christmas Invasion" when he discovered that he was not ginger, and he proceeded to complain about his companion, Rose Tyler's competency when she pointed out his real hair color.

(4) In the twelve year gap between her first and second encounters with the Doctor, Amy was sent to four psychiatrists because she kept insisting that the "Raggedy Doctor" was real. The line itself is spoken by Amy in the episode "The Eleventh Doctor".

(5) Like much of Leadworth, Rory was privy to Amy's tales of the "Raggedy Doctor", and he found himself a reluctant participant in dress-up games that she based on them.

(6) The Doctor's tenth incarnation wore a tie as part of his outfit.

(7) The second time she met him, Amy repeatedly dragged the newly regenerated Doctor, still wearing the clothes of his tenth incarnation, across Leadworth by his tie.

(8) Irritated by the Doctor's sudden reappearance in her life, Amy grabbed him by the tie and locked it in a car door, keeping him trapped there until he told her who he was, being persuaded when the Doctor revealed that he was indeed her imaginary friend.

(9) The Doctor's first incarnation never really excelled academically when he attended the Prydon Academy in his youth.

(10) The Doctor's first incarnation was expelled from the academy when he stole a TARDIS for a joyride and traveled to the realm of the Celestial Toymaker, a powerful being who ensnared sentient beings in apparently childish games, with their freedom as the stakes, accompanied by his classmates Rallon and Millennia. The trip ended in disaster, with Rallon absorbed as the Toymaker's new host body, and Millennia trapped as one of his living dolls. The Doctor's fifth incarnation eventually destroyed the Celestial Toymaker's realm, releasing Rallon and Millennia into death.

(11) The Doctor prefers Amy's full name instead of the shortened form she adopted when she grew up, which he thinks is "boring".

(12) A crack in time is a crack in the fabric of time and space, an offshoot from a field of artron energy. The cracks themselves were caused by the Doctor's TARDIS exploding on 26th June 2010, after coming under the control of an unknown entity. Some cracks could wipe individuals out of time itself and remove events from history (by removing all memory of them), though time-travelers such as the Doctor still had the ability to remember them, at least so long as the removed event or person did not relate to the person's direct past. Rory fell into one such crack after being shot in the episode "Cold Blood", causing Amy to forget he ever existed, though the Doctor still remembered him.

(13) In the episodes "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang", an Alliance of the Doctor's enemies formed to stop the greatest threat in the universe, which they all believed to be him. They predicted that the explosion of the TARDIS would cause the cracks in time which in turn would expand and erase all of existence, and thus devised a plan to trap the Doctor in a specially built prison known as the Pandorica, located under Stonehenge in 102 A.D., to stop that from happening. On the night Amy left with the Doctor, they traveled to her house and traced the psychic imprints there to sample her memories and use them to create a scenario the Doctor would not be able to resist, as a way to lure him to the Pandorica.

(14) Autons are a race of plastic dummy aliens created and controlled by the Nestene Consciousness, a life form that could inhabit plastic. When the Nestene Consciousness joined the Alliance, they produced Autons disguised as Roman soldiers based on images of a picture book that Amy owned during her childhood. One of the Autons was a duplicate of the time-erased Rory, implanted with fake memories and believing himself to be the real Rory.

(15) When the Nestene Consciousness later asserted its influence over the Autons, the Auton Rory was able to partly resist it, but not before accidentally shooting Amy, just as she remembered who Rory is. When the Doctor was locked in the Pandorica, the TARDIS exploded, destroying the universe and erasing almost all of the Alliance. The Auton Rory survived this and managed to free the Doctor from the Pandorica. As the prison did not allow its captive to die and has restorative properties, the near-death Amy was placed inside it to recover. The Doctor traveled to 1996 to retrieve Amy in the future, but the Auton Rory decided to stay, making sure no harm came to the Pandorica with Amy inside, watching over it for almost 2000 years.

(16) The Doctor rebooted the erased universe by driving the Pandorica into the heart of the exploding TARDIS, as the prison contained some atoms of the original universe that existed prior to the TARDIS exploding. The Pandorica's atoms and restorative properties closed the cracks and repaired the damage cause by them, restoring all erased people and events to their proper place in time and space, including Rory. This act also erased the Doctor and the TARDIS from existence, but they were brought back at Amy's wedding when the woman remembered him. Rory would go on to retain the memories of his Auton duplicate.

OCs are still being accepted. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.


	17. The Tomb for Forgotten Dreams

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"As time goes on, we get closer to that American Dream of there being a pie cut up and shared. Usually, greed and selfishness prevent that, and there is always one bad apple in every barrel.__" _– Rick Danko

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 17: The Tomb for Forgotten Dreams**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Trainer's School, January 5, 2011, 12:50 p.m.)_

Allowing it to ring for several seconds, the Doctor raised his wrist to neck level and stared at the blank screen of his Xtransceiver.

"Well Doctor? Aren't you going to answer it?" asked Amy.

The Doctor scratched his head. "Yeah sure, Pond. I'm just wondering who would be calling me out of the blue like this. I'm quite sure Professor Juniper mentioned that she can't contact me from the Desert Resort."

"Is she the only one you gave your number to?"

"No, I gave the others my number before they left, in case they got Xtransceivers of their own later."

Rory shrugged. "Maybe it's a wrong number."

"Well, we won't find out by just standing here." replied the Doctor. The Time Lord answered the call, and a pale-skinned, bespectacled woman with waist length black hair and a flower-shaped hairclip, dressed in a lab coat with a pink blouse underneath and wearing pink slip-on shoes, appeared on the screen.

The woman blinked briefly. The surprise that her call went through was etched on her face. "Hello? Is this the Doctor? Doctor John Smith?"

The Doctor blinked back. "Er, yeah. Speaking. Though I go by 'Professor' John Smith now. But feel free to still call me 'the Doctor'. And you are?"

The woman took a sip from a cup of coffee. "Oh good. It's nice to meet you and your assistants. Rory and Amy, right?" The Doctor nodded. "I thought I called the wrong number when you didn't pick up for a few seconds. That, or you were halfway taking a shower. But why would you be taking a shower?" Rory and Amy rolled their eyes at the comment. "According to what Professor Juniper told me, you should be finished with that lecture for the kids at the Trainer's School today. She apologizes for inconveniencing you by forgetting to mention what the lecture's subject was. What _did_ you tell those kids anyway?"

"Extraterrestrial and Artificial Pokemon. But enough of that. Who are you?"

"Really? Fascinating. I'm Professor Fennel. Professor Juniper has been a friend of mine since our college days."

The Doctor beamed. "Why, hello there! Yes, I'm the Doctor. It is nice to talk to people. I like talking. Do you like talking? Everyone should talk to each other once in a while... No, not once in a while, everyday. Yes, everyday. Every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year, every year of the decade..."

"He's rambling again..." sighed Rory.

The Doctor continued. "Anyway, I really, really, really don't mean to be rude and all, but how in the name of Gallifrey did you get my Xtranceiver number?"

"Oh, Professor Juniper e-mailed it to me." said Fennel, taking another sip of coffee.

The Time Lord resisted the urge to slap himself on the forehead. "Of course. So, I don't suppose you called me to simply chat, did you?"

"Right, I almost forgot. Professor Juniper wanted me to inform you that Skylar and Sophie may be arriving late to Striaton City. Skylar was helping Spencer and Professor Juniper's other assistants to fix the equipment in her lab that Zekrom malfunctioned. They would likely be there tomorrow."

"I see. Zekrom's a menance to everyone, eh?"

"I agree. Nothing at all like the benevolent Reshi-...ack!" Fennel did a double-take backwards as an egg timer in her room went off, the surprise causing her to spill her coffee all over her lab coat.

"Awkward..." muttered Amy.

Muttering a few brief curses, Fennel shed herself of her coat. "So sorry about that! I was cooking a meatloaf for my lunch. Professor Juniper asked me to help you and your assistants, so why don't you come on over to my place for lunch? I live at 4983 Dream Ave. Excuse me, but I need to clean this mess up so I look presentable when you people show up. See you." Before the Doctor could reply, the screen went blank.

The Time Lord shrugged. "Okay then, looks like we have an appointment now."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Fennel's House, Dining Room, January 5, 2011, 1:30 p.m.)_

Relaxing in his chair at Fennel's dining table, the Doctor wiped his mouth off as he finished his last bite of meatloaf. "Well, you have our thanks for your gracious hospitality and the meal, Fennel. Now, what was it you wanted to assist us with, if the meal wasn't all?" Although he enjoyed Fennel's company, the Time Lord could not shake off the feeling that something was occupying the woman's thoughts, especially the fact that she seemed very uneasy when talking to them at times. He briefly wondered if him and his companions were the cause of that behavior. Not wishing to offend Fennel, he decided to keep his observations to himself until he garnered more information about her.

Amy huffed. "Doctor, you're being rude."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

Fennel shook her head. "No, no, it's okay. He has every right to ask." The woman then became slightly hesitant. "But before I can assist you, can I ask you to do something for me?"

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what is it?"

Fennel took a deep breath before continuing. "On the eastern edge of Striaton City, there are some ruins called the Dreamyard. I want some Dream Mist from the Pokemon Munna or Musharna that live there."

"What's Dream Mist?" asked Amy.

The Doctor perked up. "Dream Mist is a pink vapor produced by Munna and its evolution Musharna, with the ability to show the dreams of people and Pokemon alike. Munna and Musharna can consume dreams and project them using the Dream Mist. They can even use it to manisfest old dreams. It has a hallucinogenic effect on Pokemon as well. Makes them fall asleep if they are exposed to it for a few minutes or so."

Fennel nodded. "That's correct. You seem to earned your reputation as a high-ranking researcher, Doctor. But how come no one has ever heard of you until recently?"

The Time Lord chuckled awkwardly. "Er, I'm not from these parts."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

"So why do you need the Dream Mist, Fennel? I suppose it'll go towards helping us, like you said."

Fennel sighed. "I study Pokemon dreams, as well as Trainers. I'm currently developing a device, called the C-Gear, with the Passerby Analytics company in Castelia City. The C-Gear should hopefully offer Trainers everywhere the chance to better connect with each other. But to make it work, I need some Dream Mist."

"I see."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Fennel's House, Living Room, January 5, 2011, 1:45 p.m.)_

While the Doctor was conversing with Fennel, Rory and Amy had snuck away from the dining table into the living room, and took a glance at a photo on the far wall. It depicted Fennel sitting with a group of similarly dressed people surrounding her. A tall building was prominently in the background. A small, pink quadruped creature that resembled a tapir or pig floated near Fennel. Its body was rounded and stubby-limbed, giving it a lump-like appearance, with pink-and-purple floral patterns along the back and underside. It had oval red eyes and a pink oval on the upper side of its curving snout. Another creature with a similar but larger body shape floated on Fennel's other side. It had a pink head and purple body with pink feet. Another photo depicted Fennel with the same two creatures in what appeared to be a laboratory. Curious, Amy held up her Pokedex in front of the smaller creature's image.

_Munna, the Dream Eater Pokemon. Munna can eat the dreams of people and Pokémon alike, then project those dreams by emitting Dream Mist from its body._

"That's a Munna." muttered Rory. "So the other must be..." He used his own Pokedex to scan the image of the larger creature.

_Musharna, the Drowsing Pokemon, and the evolved form of Munna. With the mist from its forehead, Musharna can create shapes of things from dreams it has eaten._

Amy pocketed her Pokedex with a smile "Oh, I think I want a Munna now. It's cute."

A voice spoke right next to the Scottish woman's ear. "Well, you might be able to find one in the Dreamyard, Pond."

Amy jumped in surprise, realizing that the voice did not belong to Rory. Noticing Rory's equally surprised look, she turned around to find the source of the voice, looking none too impressed at her. "Doctor! How long were you here?"

The Time Lord crossed his arms with a frown. "Long enough. What do you two think you're doing, probing around this poor woman's home like that? We're her guests!"

"She has a Munna and Musharna, Doctor! Why does she need us to go to the Dreamyard for? She seemed uneasy at times during lunch earlier. I got suspicious and dragged Rory along, okay? What if she was trying to cheat us or something?"

The Doctor drummed his fingers on the wall in agitation. "That's no excuse. I admit that I was curious about her behavor myself. I agreed to go to the Dreamyard while you two were 'sleuthing'. Do you know why she was so hesitant and uneasy? She didn't want to trouble us!"

"What do you mean?"

The Doctor sighed and began recounting his conversation with Fennel.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Fennel's House, Dining Room, January 5, 2011, 1:35 p.m.)_

"I see." said the Doctor.

Fennel shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry if it takes up your precious time, Doctor."

"Oh, it's no trouble. I wouldn't mind going to the Dreamyard myself."

Fennel sighed as her face fell. "The truth is, I haven't been entirely honest with you, Doctor. I was hoping that you could help me find some Dream Mist for another reason. Professor Juniper spoke fondly of how you helped her recently, so I was wondering if you could give me a hand with something."

"I suspected that. Go on."

"Professor Juniper was right, there is little that escapes your notice. Thing is, the Dreamyard wasn't always a ruin. A few years ago, it used to be a research facility designed to investigate the use of Dream Mist as a clean, alternative source of energy. I was one of the scientists working on that project."

"Sounds promising."

"Oh, it was. Our research became very popular, and many greedy people wanted to sponsor us and obtain the rights to the project. Since my Munna and Musharna had to eat dreams in order to develop the energy, they absorbed the negative thoughts and intentions of our sponsors. They faced a great deal of pressure, and caused an explosion since they were unable to handle the stress, reducing the Dreamyard to ruins. That was about a year ago. Munna and Musharna disappeared, and I don't know what happened to them, but the research was stopped. Deep down, I know Munna and Musharna are still alive." Fennel sighed and stared at her feet. "I hope to use any Dream Mist I obtain to triangulate Munna and Musharna's location, so I can find them once again."

"Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. You just want to use it to locate your Pokemon, and some other purposes... I'd be happy to help you out, though I would have preferred it if you were more frank with me from the get-go." The Doctor turned away and let out a brief sigh. _"Oh boy, do I ever know that feeling..."_

Relieved that the Doctor was not angry at her for initially keeping the truth from him, Fennel smiled. "Thank you. You're a beginning Trainer, but did you lose any Pokemon of your own? You seem to have."

The Time Lord sighed again. "Yeah, I did lose Pokemon before I received Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott from Professor Juniper. Two of them in fact. I pretty sure they're still alive though.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I do hope you'll be reunited with your old Pokemon someday."

"I hope so too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find my assistants. They seem to have wandered off somewhere."

"If they saw the photos in my living room, I think they might get a gist of what happened. Do tell them, and please don't be too mad at them. It's my fault for not telling you everything earlier."

The Doctor nodded and left the room to search for Rory and Amy.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Fennel's House, Living Room, January 5, 2011, 1:50 p.m.)_

"And there you have it." said the Doctor.

"Wow, I didn't think of it like that." replied Rory.

"Anyway, just so you know, Fennel's Munna and Musharna _are_ alive."

"How do you know that?"

"I can sense it."

Rory's face bore a contemplative expression as he recalled Nathen's words on Aura Guardians.

_Aura Guardians can also 'sense' other auras and view their surroundings even with a blindfold, and also view through some objects._

The nurse gave the Doctor a curious look. _"Could the Doctor be an Aura Guardian?"_

Before Rory could continue with his thoughts, Fennel walked into the living room, breaking his concentration. "Thanks for helping me out. And I promise, I do have something for you once all this is said and done."

Nodding, the Doctor walked over to the door, and his eyes widened at the sight that greeted him when he opened it. Striaton City was enveloped with copious amounts of a thick fog, which was unusually colored pink.

The Doctor stared at the pink fog permeating the city, before throwing the door wide open to give everyone in the room a view. "Hey Fennel! You wanted some Dream Mist?" He gestured at the fog. "Is that a good enough amount for you?"

Fennel's eyes widened at the sight. "Oh no! There shouldn't be this much Dream Mist in the city. This can only mean that there must a disturbance somewhere. All this Dream Mist would put Pokemon in the city outside their Pokeballs to sleep."

Rory's face bore a thoughtful expression. "And that somewhere would probably be the Dreamyard."

"Well, I suppose you can collect as much Dream Mist as you want now, Fennel." said the Doctor.

Fennel nodded. "I guess so. In the meantime, could I trouble you to see what's going on at the Dreamyard, Doctor?"

The Time Lord nodded grimly before turning to his companions. "Very well. Come along, you two."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Dreamyard, January 5, 2011, 2:10 p.m.)_

Standing in front of a pair of wrecked iron gates, the Doctor planted his hands firmly on his hips as he gazed at the destroyed research facility on the eastern outskirts of Striaton City. Large wings of the once magnificent and imposing building were reduced to rubble, and what was still standing appeared to have its structural integrity challenged. Large fragments of stone and scrap metal lay strewn about in the field outside the building. High concentrations of Dream Mist surrounded the structures. Rory and Amy stood behind the Time Lord, waiting for him to say something.

The Doctor whistled. "Blimey, they really let this place go."

Rory chuckled awkwardly. "The Dreamyard. A graveyard for dreams. Nice name..."

The Doctor sniffed the air. "Hmmm... You were right, Rory. Looks like this place is where all that Dream Mist is coming from." He perked up. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The Time Lord pointed at a standing brick wall. "That noise. Sounds like it's coming from behind that wall over there and up ahead." Before his companions could react, he ran forward before turning around the corner, the back of his tweed jacket disappearing behind it." Shrugging, Rory and Amy quickly followed the Time Lord into a warehouse with a collasped roof. Walking up behind him, the couple found the Doctor rooted to the spot like a statue, his eyes wide open in suprise and astonishment, and his mouth slack-jawed.

Amy waved her hand in front of the Time Lord's face. "Uh Doctor? What's..." She was cut off by Rory tapping her on the shoulder and pointing forward, his face bearing a stunned expression comparable to the Doctor's. Following his gaze, the woman adopted a shocked expression as well, for she was now staring at two Plasma grunts, one male and the other female, towering over a Munna lying on the ground. What really stunned Amy was the fact that the Plasma grunts were taking it in turn to mercilessly kick the Dream Eater Pokemon into submission. The Munna screamed in pain as its small frame took the brunt of repeated kicks from their industrial steel-toed boots. Amy was livid. "What are they doing to it?"

The female grunt smirked. "Excellent. All that Dream Mist the Munna's producing is spreading around the city. We just need to kick it a bit more. If we keep this up, Munna will certainly cough up more Dream Mist!" Her partner obliged, continuing to kick the Dream Eater Pokemon, ignoring its pained cries.

The Doctor gave the air another sniff and frowned, his voice adopting a dangerous tone. "Those Plasma grunts are fools. The Dream Mist surrounding this place isn't from that Munna. It's from a much stronger source."

Amy bit her lip. "Okay, so if it's not Munna, where's all that Dream Mist coming from?"

"Care to garner a guess?"

"_You_ were the one who brought it up!"

"Well, y_ou_ should be more observant."

"How would _I_ know?"

"Just think about everything that was said in Fennel's house. Everything. Every word. Every detail. Every syllable. Leave nothing out. Nothing to chance. Nothing to the imagination. Just think. Think. Think. Think. What could be stronger than Munna and yet cast out so much Dream Mist?"

Amy huffed. "Oh bother, I don't have time for this. Let's go, Lillipup!" Hand creeping towards her belt, she removed her Lillipup's Pokeball and hurled it, sending out the Puppy Pokemon. She glared at the two Plasma grunts. "Hey! What do you blokes think you're doing to that Pokemon?"

The woman's outburst caught the attention of the Plasma grunts, who briefly stopped abusing the Munna to face her. The male grunt matched Amy's glare with one of his own. "What does it look like? Munna and Musharna produce a special vapor called Dream Mist that shows you dreams, right? The greedy and corrupt people who funded the work done here wanted to abuse those Pokemon to make use of that Dream Mist. Since it showed the dreams of those corrupt people, the Dream Mist would've influenced the hearts of others when they saw it! Now we will do the same! See the Dream Mist all over the place? Soon, it will depict our goals and broadcast them into the dreams of the city's populace! As they sleep, the people of Striaton City will chant the glorious name of Plasma!"

"You're kicking that poor Pokemon so it will give you the Dream Mist? That's horrible! You're off your rockers! The Dream Mist here isn't even from Munna!"

"You don't know what you're talking about. Run along, little girl."

Amy clenched her fists while her Lillipup glared at the male Plasma grunt. "What did you call me?"

"Oh, so are you deaf as well? I said 'run along, _little girl_.'"

"Aren't you Trainers as well?"

"Yeah! We're Trainers, alright. But unlike you, we're fighting night and day to liberate Pokemon from foolish and abusive humans! And we will free your Lillipup from your captive hands! We'll fight you and snatch it away to liberty! Alright then. Let us save your Pokemon! Come on, Patrat!" The male grunt tossed his Pokeball to send out his Pokemon.

"Get ready, Lillipup."

The Puppy Pokemon stared at his opponent. "Arf!"

The Doctor crossed his arms, a tad irritated at Amy's impulsiveness and blatant disregard for his instructions. "Look at that, typical Amy Pond, jumping in like that. Well, at least things are working out for me."

Rory raised an eyebrow as his wife's Pokemon began to battle. "What do you mean, Doctor?"

The Time Lord let out an amused chuckle. "Oh, Rory, Rory, Rory... Don't you remember how Amy was when we first got here?"

"Yeah. She didn't believe you when you promised adventure here, was somewhat reluctant to leave the TARDIS, she mocked the Pidove's name, and was ticked when you ran to Professor Juniper's lab. Oh, she yelled at you for going after Zekrom. And she wasn't pleased to be stranded here."

The Doctor whistled as Amy's Lillipup avoided a Bite from the Patrat, before responding with a Bite of his own. "Exactly. And look at her now."

Rory's eyes widened. "S-She's a-actually defending a-a P-Pokemon!"

"Looks like she warmed up to this world. Kids everywhere dream of doing what she's doing now. Not bad for spending just over a week here."

Rory crossed his arms as Amy's Lillipup, still biting the Patrat, proceeded to slam it into a small pile of steel shrapnel with Take Down. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"I could say I wasn't, but then I'd be lying. There's a little girl in Amy that didn't quite grow up. I thought this world was suitable to bring out that child in her. Having that Lillipup of hers helped too. I mean, it's like a cute little dog but way more intelligent. And who doesn't like cute little dogs?"

"Point taken, Doctor."

"Oh yeah, that's right. You going run to mommy now?" taunted Amy, hands on her hips as her Lillipup bounded back towards her, away from the unconscious Patrat.

The male Plasma grunt let out a snarl and recalled his Pokemon, causing his partner to let out a sigh. "Can't you do anything right? I'll take care of this. You're up, Purrloin!"

The Doctor called out to his companion. "Hey Amy, why don't you give Rory here a turn?"

The couple simultaneously gave the Doctor puzzled looks. "What?"

The Time Lord shook his head and grabbed the woman by the arm, dragging her back. "I know you're all fired up and all that, but Rory does need to make his own Pokemon stronger too, you know.

Amy looked reluctant. "Fine. Let's see what you can do, Rory."

Rory let out a sigh. "Why did I get dragged into this? Come on out, Audino!" The nurse sent out his Hearing Pokemon, who proceeded to stare down the Purrloin.

Amy huffed in disappointment. "You dragged me away just when I was having fun kicking their butts too, Doctor."

"Well, you want a Munna, don't you, Pond? Don't tire your Lillipup out too much, you'll need him to battle the Munna if you do find one."

Amy shrugged as Rory's Audino confused the Purrloin with Sweet Kiss. "Can't I catch the one we're rescuing?"

"I suspect that it may have a friend somewhere."

"What?"

"Well, you didn't listen to what I was saying before you jumped in with Lillipup. Observe everything. Munna didn't create all this Dream Mist here, so what did? I'm guessing that it's something trying to help it."

Amy crossed her arms as her husband's Audino smacked the confused Purrloin with Pound. "But Fennel and that Plasma grunt said that only Munna and Musharna produce Dream Mist..." Amy perked up as her own words clicked in her head. "Oh! The Munna has a friend. Another Munna? Or a Musharna, maybe?"

"Exactly. And I suspect that the Munna we're helping actually belongs to Fennel."

Briefly forgotten in the scuffle, the Munna, weakened from the kicks it had received, stared at the Doctor. "Mu. Munna?"

The Time Lord beamed and clicked his fingers as Rory's Audino delivered another Pound attack to her opponent. "Looks like the Munna recognizes Fennel's name. Which more than likely confirms my hypothesis."

"So, let's just help it and then bring it back to Fennel."

"Not quite. We have to find her Musharna as well. And it's definitely here. I can sense it."

"And Fennel's Musharna is likely the one behind the Dream Mist!"

"Exactly! And we'll find it, once Rory gets rid of those Plasma grunts, that is." The Doctor took a quick glance at his watch. "Right about now." As if on cue, Rory's Audino whacked the Purrloin up the chin with Pound, sending it flying a few meters away with swirly eyes. "Yep, I'm good." Amy rolled her eyes.

The female Plasma grunt frowned and recalled her Pokemon. "Urgh. I can't believe we both lost! But we still need more Dream Mist!" The two grunts shrugged and resumed kicking the downed Munna. Shoving his companions aside and stepping forward himself, the Doctor heaved a huge sigh and reached for one of his own Pokeballs, intent on taking the situation into his own hands.

Before the Doctor could send out a Pokmon, Ghetsis appeared near a warehouse wall, glaring at the Plasma grunts. "What are you two doing goofing off like that?"

"Ghetsis is here?" asked Rory.

Before anyone could comprehend the appearance of the high-ranking Plasma member, another Ghetsis appeared, standing near the opposite wall of the warehouse. "We, Team Plasma, shall separate Pokemon from foolish people!"

Rory scratched his head. "There are two Ghstsis now?" The Doctor simply had a sly smile on his face.

The two Ghetsis vanished and a single Ghetsis appeared right in front of the Plasma grunts. "If you cannot fulfill your duties..."

The Plasma grunts began to talk amongst themselves. "T-This isn't... Ghetsis when he's gathering followers... Or Ghetsis when he is trying to control people by tricking them with speches!" muttered the female grunt.

The male grunt nodded. "Yeah... This is Ghstsis when a plan has failed, and he is about to issue punishment..."

"At any rate, let's hurry and say we're sorry so he forgives us!" Without casting the Doctor and his companions a second look, the two Plasma grunts ran past them and out the warehouse, leaving the group to stare out the opening they escaped from.

"So Ghetsis was manipulating people with his speeches for his cause. I knew it!" said the Doctor smugly, as he turned around to face his companions.

Amy sighed. "That was SO obvious... Hey, Ghetsis just up and disappeared."

"What?" The Time Lord spun around to notice that Amy was correct. "Weird. He didn't just walk out the other side?"

"No, he just vanished into thin air!"

The Doctor smiled. "Then that confirms my other hypothesis."

"What other hypothesis?"

"That Fennel's Musharna helped this Munna, which we now know to be Fennel's. It used the Dream Mist it created to manifest one of the Plasma grunts' greatest nightmares. That of their superior Ghetsis." The Time Lord gave his surroundings a brief look over. "Come on out, Musharna! We won't hurt you. We were just trying to help Munna." He looked at the Munna who had begun floating again. "You are Fennel's Munna, right?"

The Dream Eater Pokemon nodded. "Mu. Nna."

"I see." The Doctor eyes began to sweep the warehouse again. "Don't worry, Musharna! Fennel sent us!" No sooner did those words leave the Time Lord's mouth that a purple portal appeared in front of him. A Musharna emerged from the portal and floated over to the Munna. As it did so, the thick fog of Dream Mist began to dissipate. The Time Lord beamed. "Ah hello there, Musharna." The Musharna checked over the Munna for injuries. "It's okay, we'll take you both back to Fennel soon. She was worried sick about you." The two Pokemon nodded.

Rory held out his Pokeball and recalled his Audino. "Shall we go then?"

The Doctor stared ahead at the surroundings beyond the warehouse they were in. "Hold on. Amy wants a Munna, dosen't she? I'm sure we could spare a few minutes to look for one."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Dreamyard, January 5, 2011, 2:45 p.m.)_

"I take it that finding the Pokemon you want takes a lot of patience sometimes, eh Doctor?" asked Amy, as she searched a large field growing outside the warehouse they were in a few minutes ago. Her Lillipup sniffed the grass around her, trying to find a scent.

The Doctor poked around in a bush on the opposite side of the field, accompanied by Fennel's Pokemon. "Pretty much, Pond. It's like catching fish. You have to be prepared to devote quite a bit of time to it."

"Sigh, this is like the walking between towns."

"The life of a Trainer isn't all play and no work, Pond."

"I know, I know. What are you, my grandpa?"

"I'm certainly old enough to be your great-great-great-great many times over grandpa."

"You don't look the part."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Keep your voice down, or better yet, be quiet, otherwise you'll scare the Munna away, if there is one. Any luck, Rory?"

The nurse looked up from his spot a short distance away from his companions. "Not yet."

"Blimey, this could take a while. Well, keep looking."

"Aha! Lillipup, use Tackle now!" The Doctor, Rory, and Fennel's Pokemon spun around to see Amy giving her Lillipup a command. The Puppy Pokemon stared intently at a wild Munna who had its back turned to him, before charging at it, catching it unaware by his attack.

The Doctor whistled. "Well, what do you know? Looks like she found one." He dashed over to Amy's side with Rory.

Amy turned to the Doctor. "Quick Doctor, Munna's a psychic-type Pokemon, right?"

"Uh, yep."

"So what's super effective against psychic-types?"

"I recommend a dark-type move like Bite."

"Gotcha. Lillipup, use Bite on Munna!" Mouth gaping and fangs bared, Lillipup leapt up and pounced down on the Munna who was trying to regain its bearings. He embedded his fangs in its side, earning him a shriek of pain from his target. "Now while you've got Munna trapped, Take Down!" Still biting the Munna's side, the Puppy Pokemon charged forward, his head angled down, so he could scrape the Dream Eater Pokemon's other side along the ground for further damage. "Do I try and catch it now, Doctor?"

"Only if you think that Munna is sufficiently weakened, Pond."

"Alright then, here goes!" As her Lillipup leapt away from his quarry, Amy produced an empty Pokeball and tossed it at the Munna. Striking the Dream Eater Pokemon on the head, the red-and-white sphere opened, converting the Munna into white energy that it sucked into itself. Clutching her fists at her sides, Amy held her breath as the Pokeball shook once and then twice, before abruptly opening again and releasing the Munna. None too pleased at Amy's attempt to capture it, the Dream Eater Pokemon floated in front of her Lillipup, the oval on its snout glowing yellow. An orb of cackling yellow electricity appeared in front of the oval, from which a beam shot out and struck the Puppy Pokemon, sending him recoiling backwards.

The Doctor turned to Rory. "Well, what do you know? That Munna knows Charge Beam."

Amy picked up the Pokeball that the Munna successfully escaped from. "What am I doing wrong? I'm supposed to weaken the Munna then try and catch it, right?"

"Weaken it some more then. You'll just have to keep trying, Amy." replied the Doctor.

"Lillipup, use Tackle." The Puppy Pokemon jumped up and slammed into the Munna, knocking it to the ground. Turning its head, the Dream Eater Pokemon began to prepare another Charge Beam attack. "Get away from Munna, Lillipup!" Nodding, Lillipup complied, leaping up just in time to avoid a beam of electricity that passed underneath it. "Now, Bite!" Using the momentum gained from his dodging of the Munna's attack, Lillipup shot down towards his quarry, who was still lying on the ground. He bit down on the top of the Dream Eater Pokemon's head, causing it to winch.

"Why isn't that Munna retaliating to Lillipup's attack?" asked Rory.

"Because Bite has a small chance of making the opponent flinch when it connects, like now. Since Munna can't react for that few seconds, now's Amy's chance to get another attack in." replied the Doctor.

"Use Bite again, Lillipup!" Lillipup released his grip on the Munna before biting down again more firmly, causing the Dream Eater Pokemon's eyes to widen. "I think now's a good time." As her Lillipup stepped away from the downed Munna, Amy hurled the empty Pokeball at it, which opened and drew it inside. Hitting the ground, the Pokeball tentatively shook three times before becoming still, a few sparkles emitting from it to signify a successful capture.

The Doctor clapped a few times. "Well, congratulations Pond, you've just made your first capture."

Before Amy could step forward to pick up her newly-caught Munna's Pokeball, a black and purple ball of energy struck the ground in front of her feet, causing her to fall backwards with a surprised yelp, her arms splayed out.

Rory's eyes widened as he rushed forward to his wife's side. "Amy!" Before Amy's body could make hard contact with the ground, her husband shot his arms forward, wrapping them around her stomach. Rory steadied his feet, firmly rooting them into the slightly loamy soil to prevent himself from falling or dropping his wife.

The Doctor and Fennel's Pokemon were stunned. "Where did that Shadow Ball come from?" His question was soon answered when a Gengar materialized in between the couple and the Pokeball on the ground.

A voice called out from an exposed corridor, its speaker hidden by the far wall in front. "Hold it right there! We'll be taking that Munna, thank you very much!"

* * *

Author's notes: I have to admit, I'm somewhat displeased with the way this chapter turned out, but hope you'll like it all the same. This chapter has no need for a glossary, a bit of a relief for me, considering how long the previous chapter's glossary was.

If anyone wants to send them in, OCs are still being taken. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.


	18. The Pain of Loss and the Joy of Comfort

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost / the most legitimate / passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one." _– Marquis De Sade

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 18: The Pain of Loss and the Joy of Comfort**

* * *

_(Striaton City, Dreamyard, January 5, 2011, 3 p.m.)_

With a sly smirk, Felix walked out from behind the far wall and strode towards his Gengar. "Charming, isn't it? Why do all the work when you know your enemies will do most of it for you?" Following slowly behind him were the two Plasma grunts who had kicked Fennel's Munna in an attempt to obtain copious amounts of Dream Mist.

Amy straightned her frame as Rory released his hold on her. She walked forward to glare at the man whose Shadow Pokemon had interrupted the celebration of her first capture. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Felix let out a sardonic chuckle. "The answer to the first question is of no relevence to you, and I believe I just answered the second question already. I want that Munna you just caught. You played right into our hands like a blind Deino."

Rory raised an eyebrow and turned to the Doctor. "Say Doctor, what's a Deino?" The Time Lord simply rolled his eyes. "Oh, a species of Pokemon then? That happens to be blind?" The Doctor nodded. "I see."

Amy's eyes widened as she caught sight of the logo on Felix's jester hat. "You're with Team Plasma!"

"An observation that will serve you in the same capacity as a menhir would serve the average Joe, my dear. Now about that Munna." Felix took a few steps forward, hand outstretched to pick up the Pokeball on the ground.

"Well you can't have it! Munna belongs to me! Lillipup, use Bite!" The Puppy Pokemon growled at the Gengar, before leaping at him with his fangs bared.

Felix halted his movements and pointed at the Puppy Pokemon. "Tsk, tsk. Shadow, Shadow Ball." The Gengar put his hands together and created a black and purple ball of energy, which he proceeded to launch in the direction of the Lillipup bearing down on him. The attack struck the Lillipup's small frame, knocking him backwards along the same trajectory from which he had tried to pounce on Shadow.

Amy's eyes widened upon seeing her Pokemon get hit. "LILLIPUP!" The woman began to run towards her downed Pokemon.

Felix turned to the two Plasma grunts. "Aha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Aren't Shadow and I charming? How did you have difficulty with these people, huh?"

The female grunt gave Felix a sheepish look. "Well, we did weaken them for you. They were at full strength when we battled them."

"Doesn't matter. The fact that I had to go out there shows how competent you are. Like a garbage collector told to blast off in a Space Shuttle!" The grunts winched at the man's words. "Now Shadow, use Thunderbolt!" Aiming his arm at point-blank range in the direction of Amy and her Lillipup, the Gengar fired a straight beam of yellow electricity from it, seemingly unable to his targets.

While the attack did not miss a target, it certainly failed to hit its intended ones. The Doctor made sure of it by reaching for a Pokeball on his belt and tossing it. "Oshawott, protect them!" Perhaps it was the urgency of the situation or his evolutionary line's ability to perceive their surroundings well, but time seemed to slow down for the Sea Otter Pokemon as he emerged from his Pokeball. Detaching the scalchop from his chest, he hurled it at the space between Amy and Lillipup, and the Thunderbolt rapidly approaching them.

As Amy wrapped her arms around her Lillipup, she fully expected to be struck by Shadow's Thunderbolt. Her face betrayed the surprise she felt when she saw a scalchop made from keratin sail in front of her line of sight, the small appendage shielding her and Lillipup from the electric-type attack. Striking Oshawott's scalchop, Shadow's attack was harmlessly redirected straight into the air. Upon fulfilling the role Oshawott had assigned to it, the scalchop dropped to the ground in front of Amy, a few mild scorch marks on its surface. Her right arm cradling Lillipup, Amy reached forward with her left hand and scooped up the scalchop, winching slightly as she felt the heat eminating from the appendage due to the attack it had just deflected.

Felix hastily wiped the stunned look from his face and shrugged. "What? Oh well, that was unexpected. As unexpected as the apocalypse coming today if it happened. Or hell freezing over! Aha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Shadow, use-"

Before Felix could issue a command to his Gengar, the Doctor beat him to the punch. "Oshawott, Water Gun!" Relieved that his scalchop was in safe hands with Amy, Oshawott shot a forceful stream of water from his mouth at Shadow, taking advantage of the Gengar's momentary distraction to make his attack hit. The Shadow Pokemon spluttered as it was struck by Oshawott's attack.

Felix's eyes narrowed in irritation. "We don't have time for this! Let's go, now!" The two Plasma grunts behind him each hurled a small black sphere which exploded upon contact with the ground, the black smoke coming from them initiating coughing fits in Rory, Amy, Oshawott, Lillipup, and Fennel's Pokemon.

Suppressing his own urge to cough, the Doctor removed another Pokeball from his belt and tossed it. "Snivy! Use Leaf Tornado to blow away all this smoke!" Snivy leapt out of her Pokeball and turned upside down, spinning to create a leaf-filled tornado around herself. She steered the tornado straight into the foul cloud of black smoke, drawing it into the vortex of air, and away from the respiratory systems of those around her. Continuing to spin, Snivy eventually dispelled the irritating particles of smoke harmlessly from the top of the tornado into the atmosphere, away from the people and Pokemon at the site. As Snivy stopped her Leaf Tornado with the smoke gone, the Doctor gazed at the site, noting that the Team Plasma operatives had made their getaway with Amy's Munna. "Well, smoke grenades. That was a trick. Dirty, but a trick nonetheless."

Noticing that Oshawott was still coughing with his arms around his stomach, Snivy rushed over and began to pat his back with her hands. Using one of her vines, she massaged the Sea Otter Pokemon's right shoulder. Snivy rested her head on Oshawott's left shoulder, closing her eyes contently. She let out a low growl that Oshawott noticed as his coughing subsided, and he blushed, observing the position Snivy had placed herself in.

"They got away with Munna..." muttered Amy as she returned Oshawott his scalchop.

"Oh don't worry. We'll catch up to them, I'm sure of it." replied the Doctor.

"How? We don't know where they went!"

"With this." The Doctor detached Tepig's Pokball and sent out the Fire Pig Pokemon. "Tepig and his evolutionary line are known for having a very refined sense of smell, perhaps on the level of dogs on Earth. Well, pigs on Earth also have a very fine sense of smell. Did you know that in Europe, pigs are used to locate truffles growing underground? Very tasty, truffles are. I once went to a restaurant..."

"Uh, Doctor? You're kinda getting off topic here."

The Time Lord chuckled sheepishly. "Right. Anyway, when Snivy ran off down Route 1 from Nuvema Town, Tepig helped to locate her."

The woman scoffed. "How is Tepig supposed to sniff out those Plasma grunts? We don't even have a scent!"

"Oh yes we do. Those grunts were kicking Fennel's Munna, if you haven't forgotten. So all we need to do now is have Tepig sniff that Munna."

"That sounds _so wrong_, Doctor."

"It does?" The Doctor looked at Rory and Fennel's Pokemon, who all nodded**. **"Seriously? Wait, I said 'all we need to do now is have Tepig sniff that...'" The Time Lord scratched his head briefly and thought for a moment, his face becoming flustered when he realized his bad choice of words. "Oh. Well, funny how you can say something in your head and it _sounds_ fine **(1)**."

"Sigh, just do it already."

"In fact, why not have your Lillipup help Tepig out? Just in case he gets misled." The Fire Pig Pokmeon gave the Doctor a skeptical look. "Well, not that he will, and I'm not doubting your skills, Tepig, but it's always good to have a backup."

"Fine."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and gestured for Fennel's Munna to float in front of his Tepig and Lillipup's snouts. Taking long, deep breaths, Tepig and Lillipup inhaled the scent of the Plasma grunts before they began to sniff the ground.

The Fire Pig Pokemon's head perked up after a few seconds. "Te! Te!"

The Puppy Pokemon did likewise. "Arf! Arf!"

"Looks like Tepig and Lillipup found a scent after all." remarked the Doctor as he recalled Snivy and Oshawott. "Let's go! Maybe we can catch them on their way out of the area or something." Following the two little Pokemon, the Time Lord broke off into a run, forcing his companions to quickly sprint in order to catch up to him. As he ran, the Doctor's concentration was briely broken as his Xtransceiver began to ring. Slowing his pace down a tad, he brought the device up towards his face and answered the call.

The image of Fennel's face soon occupied the screen. "Hello, Doctor. I wanted to inform you that the Dream Mist around the city just disappeared..." the woman blinked in confusion before continuing. "...and the screen, why is your face moving forward towards it and then zooming out again? Are you running or something?"

Noting the difficulty in keeping his wrist in front of his face for a prolonged period of time, the Doctor continued to run, letting out a short pant so he could answer Fennel's question, keeping said answer short as he had to save his breath for his lungs. "Uh, yes, yes I am. Sorry about that."

"What's the rush?"

"Oh, well, we found your Munna and Musharna." The Doctor briefly shifted his wrist to his right, allowing Fennel to see her Pokemon through the screen of his Xtransceiver floating behind him.

Fennel's eyes widened. "Really? That's great news! How did you find them?"

"Thing is, Team Plasma were harassing your Munna at the Dreamyard to obtain Dream Mist for their purposes. We stopped them and Amy caught a Munna. Team Plasma attacked us again and stole that Munna. So now we're chasing them."

Fennel gasped. "That's horrible! I'm so sorry to hear that, Amy. And you just caught that Munna too! Doctor, you may borrow my Munna and Musharna. Good luck in getting Amy's Munna back." Before the Doctor could respond, Fennel cut the call short and hung up.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Wellspring Cave, January 5, 2011, 4:30 p.m.)_

Felix smirked as he turned off a walkie-talkie and pocketed it. "Now all we need to do is camp out in this cave and wait for the chopper to pick us up."

The male Plasma grunt scratched his head. "What about those three annoyances?"

"Oh, I'm certain we lost them with those smoke bombs. Are you still worried about them? I really can't believe that they were able to best you. Both of you, in fact. You're just as disappointing to the name of Plasma as an illegitimate love child."

"What?"

Felix licked his lips. "Nothing you two boneheads will understand."

The male grunt was livid, a sign that was obvious as he clenched his fists to his sides. "Boneheads?"

"Aha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Don't get your knickers in a knot. You're like a stress toy about to burst, if that's even possible at all."

"Why you..."

The male Plasma grunt reared his fist back, poised to strike Felix across the face, but he was stopped by the female grunt. "Are you out of your mind? Ghetsis paid good money to hire this guy. If he complains..."

Felix pretended to sweep dirt from his clothes. "No, go ahead, I'd like to see you punch me. What are you waiting for?" The male grunt muttered a few inaudible words before putting his fist down and turning his back on Felix. "Ha! You're all talk! But still, I'm all charm."

The man was cut short by an angry female voice coming from the mouth of the cave. "Alright, where's my Munna?" Felix and the grunts spun around to notice Amy glaring at him, her hands on her hips, with Tepig and Lillipup at her feet. Standing behind her were the Doctor and Rory with Fennel's Pokemon.

Felix chuckled in amusement. "My, my, tracking us with your Tepig and Lillipup? You really are persistent. Like a beaten mutt who doesn't know when to quit. Someone should put you in your place."

Amy narrowed her eyes at the man. "Well, it certainly won't be you, buster!"

"That remains to be seen, does it not? And since you've come so far, allow me to reward you by letting you feel the sting of defeat again! Your determination shall be stained like blood on a chrysanthemum flower!" The man softened his tone of voice. "Blood which constitutes a 'coppery aromic delight' indeed." Felix pull out a Pokeball and hurled it. "And who better to show you defeat than Esper?" An Espeon emerged from the Pokeball, glaring fiercely at the woman.

The Doctor whistled. "That is one mean looking Espeon."

Raising an eyebrow, Amy scanned the Sun Pokemon with her Pokedex.

_Espeon, the Sun Pokmeon, and an evolved form of Eevee. Espeon is extremely loyal to any trainer it considers to be worthy. It is said that this Pokemon developed its precognitive powers to protect its trainer from harm._

Felix clapped a few times. "Well, you've just gotten you Espeon lesson for the day." He turned to the Plasma grunts. "You two jokers can take care of those guys over there with that girl. Now then, Esper, use Psychic!" The Espeon's eyes took on a light blue glow as the same color outlined Lillipup, lifting him up into the air and slamming him against a rock face a few meters from the cave's entrance. The Puppy Pokemon slid down the wall of rock into a crumpled heap on the ground. The two Plasma grunts sent out their Patrat and Purrloin and began to approach the Doctor and Rory, who were standing a few meters from the cave's entrance.

"Looks like we have a double battle on our hands, Rory. I'll be using Tepig since he's already out of his Pokeball." remarked the Doctor. The nurse simply nodded and sent out his Audino. The Plasma grunts and their Pokemon walked in front of the Doctor and Rory, eventually standing a few meters from them. The Time Lord and the nurse turned around so their backs were to Amy, who was confronting Felix at the mouth of the cave. Fennel's Pokemon floated between Amy and her companions.

Amy gritted her teeth as she stared at her Puppy Pokemon who was struggling to stand. "Lillipup, Bite!" Slightly stunned from the imapact, the Puppy Pokemon shook his head a few times to reorient himself before leaping at the Espeon with his fangs bared.

"As pathetic as a feeble Magikarp. Esper, Protect." A light green barrier of energy appeared in front of the Sun Pokemon as Lillipup was about to make contact with him. The Puppy Pokemon yelped as he slammed into the barrier and was thrown backwards.

"What move was that?"

"For a short while, Protect nullifies the effects of most moves that target the user when it is used, including damage, Pond." said the Doctor as he briefly looked up from his battle.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Fine then, Lillipup, use Take Down!"

Felix let out a low chuckle. "Esper, Hypnosis." The Espeon's jewel in the center of his forehead glowed red, as he sent blue waves of hypnotic energy at Lillipup. Suddenly finding himself very drowsy, the Puppy Pokemon staggered on his feet for a few seconds before closing his eyes, and dozing off on the cave floor. "Time for your Lillipup to take a nice, long trip to dreamland."

"Wake up, Lillipup!" Before Amy could say another word, the sound of an approaching helicoper was heard over the distance.

Felix smirked and gave the woman a small wave. "Sorry to cut and run, but I really, really must be off. Ta-ta! Esper, use Psychic!" Executing the move, the Espeon picked up Amy's Lillipup and flung him out of the cave. The sleeping Puppy Pokemon sailed through the air for a few meters and collided with the backs of Fennel's Pokemon, knocking them out of the air and causing them to fall on Tepig and Audino in a big heap. The impact knocked out Lillipup, who had participated in three previous battles earlier in the day. The man rushed at Amy and smacked her across the stomach with the back of his left hand, knocking her to the ground with a yelp before he ran out of the cave. Outside, the two Plasma grunts recalled their Pokemon and flung smoke bombs at the Doctor and Rory, blurring their vision as they exploded.

The Time Lord sighed as he tried to stop coughing, pulling out Snivy's Pokeball and hurling it. "Here we go again. Snivy, blow away the smoke with Leaf Tornado." The Grass Snake Pokemon complied with her Trainer's request, revealing that the Team Plasma members had disappeared. The Doctor turned around and noticed Amy sprawled on the ground in the cave.

The Doctor ran inside and stared at the woman as she began to mutter to herself. "They really took Munna, and I couldn't stop them..."

The Time Lord helped Amy to her feet as he stared at her in concern. "You alright, Pond?"

Amy shook her head and simply waved off the Time Lord's concerns with a shrug. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Doctor. Really. I just caught that Munna today. I suppose I can just get another one. It's no big deal."

Agitated, the Doctor seized Amy by the shoulders, giving her frame a few light shakes. "No big deal? _No big deal?_ You can't just abandon your Pokemon like that, Pond! It didn't chose you as its Trainer, you chose it! And you were so determined to get it back too!"

The woman huffed, pushing the Time Lord by his chest, away from her body. "Well, what do you want me to do about it, Doctor? _Fly after them?_"

The Doctor's features softened. "Don't worry, Pond. We'll get your Munna back."

Amy shrugged. "I know, I know. You just promised I'll see Munna again soon, fine. Now can we go back to Fennel's house or something?" The woman recalled her unconscious Lillipup and walked out of the cave, past the Doctor and Rory, turning her head to stare briefly at them before walking on. "Come on, you Slowpokes!"

"How about we go to the police station first to report the theft, Pond?"

"Fine, whatever. The police station. _Then_ we go back to Fennel's house." Amy continued to walk on, leaving the Doctor and Rory trailing behind after they recalled their Pokemon, with Fennel's Munna and Musharna in tow.

The Doctor frowned and turned to Rory. "Something is definitely not right with Amy. Keep an eye out for her, will you? There is _no way_ she can be fine after a Pokemon she wanted and just caught was snatched away like that."

Rory sighed. "Alright, Doctor."

"You say that like it's a chore."

"Believe me, I'm not. I can tell she's putting up a front so we won't worry about her."

"Only it's having the opposite effect." replied the Doctor.

"She grew up almost alone, you know."

"And you were one of the lucky ones she considered a friend."

"You were too, Doctor, but you abandoned her twice."

"Oi! It's not my fault that the TARDIS chose to jump twelve years into the future, instead of five minutes."

"And then you'll tell me the TARDIS jumped another two years forward after that when you wanted to take a '_short_ test run' to the Moon."

"That's right."

"A poor carpenter blames his tools, Doctor." remarked Rory.

The Doctor hastily changed the subject. "She hasn't had that many friends growing up, has she, Rory?"

"Not really. The other kids in the neighbourhood thought she was a weirdo for believing in the 'Raggedy Doctor'."

The Doctor sighed. "You make it sound like it's my fault. And yet you stuck with her, even if she made you pretend to be me."

Rory nodded. "Even if she made me pretend to be you."

"Since she had so few friends, losing her Munna probably makes it all the more devastating for her. After all, to most Trainers, Pokemon are friends."

"So what do we do now?"

"Like I said, keep an eye on her, and let her know we're still there. And remind her that we'll get her Munna back."

"You don't have a plan in that regard, do you?"

"No, no plan. But I have a thing. It's like a plan, but with more greatness **(2)**."

Rory sighed. "Just make sure it works, Doctor. I don't want you giving Amy an empty promise."

"Oi! I've never given her any empty promises!"

"Well, she _thought_ your promise of taking her with you was an empty promise."

"I kept it, did I not?"

"After how long? Just mind you keep this one. I don't want Amy to break over this."

"Alright, alright, you've got me there. But don't rush me. You can't rush perfection."

Rory rolled his eyes before continuing to follow his companions.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Fennel's House, Living Room, January 5, 2011, 6 p.m.)_

Her Munna and Musharna floating behind her, Fennel set a tea tray down on her coffee table as the Doctor and his companions lounged on her couches. "Did you already go to Officer Jenny about all of this?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah. She said that she would conduct an investigation."

"That's good. Once again, I'm so sorry about you loss, Amy."

The woman let out a soft sigh that went unnoticed to all but the Doctor. "It's fine. I'll find Munna again eventually."

"Well, I hope you do." Fennel turned to the Doctor. "That aside, I just wanted to thank you for your assistance, Doctor, and for finding Munna and Musharna. I did manage to get enough Dream Mist to complete a C-Gear, which I want you to have." Reaching into the pocket of her lab coat, Fennel pulled out a black wristwatch-like device that the Time Lord took.

"What does it do?" asked Rory.

"The C-Gear can perform a myriad of various functions, some of which in conjunction with the Xtransceiver. You can use it to trade Pokemon with others, check how compatible you are with your Pokemon, and you could battle virtually with people that also have C-Gears, but there are some kniks in that function we have to work out. I think the Passerby Analytics company will reward you with something for it if you conduct surverys for them in Castelia City. It's for their research on Trainer intrests. Anyway, just fiddle with it by yourself for a while and you'll discover more about it."

"So why did you need the Dream Mist?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh that. The Dream Mist is so you can put one of your Pokemon to sleep with one of the functions and view their dreams with it. I think it's pretty cool, actually. Give it a go."

The Doctor sent out his Snivy and asked for her permission to be put to sleep. Snivy checked the room a few times before she nodded. The Doctor waved the device over the Grass Snake Pokemon, musing on her behavior in his thoughts. _"She's probably checking to see that Oshawott isn't around. Guess that's something she's shy about."_

Her eyes becoming droopy, Snivy curled up and fell asleep on the floor of Fennel's living room. A puff of pink smoke identical in appearance to Dream Mist appeared above Snivy's head. Gazing at the smoke, those present in the room saw it project an image of Snivy's dream.

_Snivy was running in a field before she stopped and glowed white, her form changing to that of a larger creature with Snivy's color scheme and body shape. The creature had smaller limbs than Snivy, two leaves growing on its back, and a yellow V-shaped collar._

Amy stared at the new creature. "What's that?"

"That would be Snivy's evolved form, Servine. I guess Snivy has dreams of evolving." answered the Doctor.

_The Servine glowed white again, as her form changed to an even larger creature, which was snake-like in appearance like the ones before it. Unlike the previous creatures, it had no legs, a dark green upper body, and a light green lower body. It had a white face, stubby arms, small leaves growing from its tail, and yellow tendril-like extensions at the back of its head and lower neck. Two yellow stripe-like patterns adorned its back._

"And that is Servine's evolution, Serperior." said the Doctor.

_The scene shifted to the inside of a stadium. Darting back and forth, the Serperior smirked as a Dragonite repeatedly attempted to strike her with its claws, which took on a light blue glow. The Dragon Pokemon panted heavily from exhaustion while Seperior showed little sign that the battle had fatigued her._

_An announcer held his microphone close to his mouth. "And the Doctor's Serperior nimbly dodges all of the Dragon Claw attacks from Kelsey's Dragonite. What a show, folks! She really is in top form today!"_

_Standing behind the Serperior, the Doctor crossed his arms. "Serperior, use Leaf Blade." The Regal Pokemon complied, her tail taking on a light green glow. Rearing the appendage back, the Serperior lashed out with it against the Dragonite, dealing her opponent a sharp uppercut to the jaw. The Dragon Pokemon was thrown backwards as it fell flat on its back, its eyes swirly._

_A referee lifted a flag in the Doctor's direction. "Dragonite is unable to battle, and the winner is Serperior! All three of Kelsey's Pokemon are unable to battle, so moving on to the next round is the Doctor!"_

_The announcer spoke. "Defeating a Tyranitar, Metagross, and finally a Dragonite, the Doctor claims yet another victory using only his Serperior! Ladies and gentlemen, this Pokemon truly deserves her title of the 'Psuedo-Legendary Slayer'!"_

_The Time Lord let out a deep sigh of relief as he walked over to his Serperior, stroking the top of her head. Two creatures climbed onto the battlefield from the stands in the audience. One was bipedal and boar-like, with a large, stocky build. Its face had large black eyebrows and a pig's nose, with two tusks jutting out from its mouth. A beard of yellow, orange, and red fire burned around its chin. It had an orange head and shoulders and red waist and legs. Its arms and feet were black. It had white claws, three on its hands, and two on its feet. Around its chest was a black band decorated with swirl-like yellow features. The other creature was dark blue and quadrupedal, resembling a sea-lion. It had a long, white moustache and beard, and a rounded beige helmet-like shell with spikes and a pointed horn. Its limbs were covered in beige, sectioned bracer-like coverings, with the top ones on its front legs having a spike attached to them, turning them into detachable swords. It had a fin-like tail and light blue carapace on its underside._

"Hmmm... Looks like your Snivy is one very ambitious Pokemon, Doctor." remarked Fennel.

The Time Lord shrugged. "Considering her strength, I think there's a good chance that her dream may very well come true."

"What are those other two Pokemon?" asked Amy.

"I read about them in a book in Professor Juniper's library. They're Tepig and Oshawott's fully evolved forms, Emboar and Samurott, right?" said Rory

The Doctor beamed. "Correct, Rory. Oh look, there's more to Snivy's dream."

_After the Doctor moved his hand away from her head, the Serperior slithered over to the Samurott, nuzzling him on the cheek before she rested her head on his left shoulder. The Formidable Pokemon raised his right front leg and began to stroke the Regal Pokemon's back. The Serperior sighed contently and closed her eyes, losing herself in the Samurott's caress. The Doctor and his Emboar looked on in approval. From the stands, Rory and Amy clapped in celebration._

Fennel giggled. "Looks like someone has a crush."

"A big one that's obvious to everyone else." replied the Doctor. "Well, it _is_ a dream _I_ wouldn't mind seeing come true."

"Because your Pokemon will evolve and you'll be getting the glory if the dream does come true, Doctor?" asked Amy.

"Oh _shut up_, Pond. It's because Snivy will hook up Oshawott, that's why."

"Yeah right, you keep telling yourself that." teased the woman. The puff of smoke above Snivy's head disappeared as the Grass Snake Pokemon's eyes fluttered open. Snivy pulled herself to her feet and stared at the people in the room.

"There might be a way for one to enter the dreams of his Pokemon, but the ability to do that is still somewhat off. We were successful sometimes, but most of the time, the C-Gears we used crashed. What we do know is that a Pokemon's dreams appear to be somehow connected to the Entralink forest in the center of the Unova region." said Fennel.

The Doctor knelt down to face his Pokemon. "That was a nice dream, Snivy. I know why you want it to come true." The Grass Snake Pokemon began to blush as the Doctor's comment, and quickly turned her head away to hide that fact. Recalling Snivy, the Time Lord simply smiled as he stood up and turned to Fennel. "Well, you have my thanks for the C-Gear, Fennel, even if my wrist is now looking crowded."

Fennel nodded as she walked to her front door with the Doctor and his companions. "I should be the one thanking you, Doctor. You and your assistants found my Munna and Musharna and brought them back to me. I'm sorry that Amy wound up losing her Munna in the process."

Amy shook her head. "It's okay, Fennel. Really." She stepped outside and did not turn around to look at her companions. "Well? Shall we go now? Or do I have to wait for you Slowpokes?" Shrugging, the woman walked off towards the Pokemon Center.

Fennel whispered to the Doctor and Rory. "Maybe you two should keep an eye on Amy. I'm beginning to worry about her a bit."

"Oh believe me, that's my number one priority." whispered Rory.

"I hope she turns out alright. And I hope to see you all again. You have my number. Feel free to call at anytime." replied Fennel as she bade them farewell.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Pokemon Center, January 5, 2011, 11:30 p.m.)_

His mind trying to absorb the events of the day, Rory tossed and turned in the top bunk of the bunk bed he shared with Amy. The Doctor had fallen asleep almost an hour ago, and he was sure that Amy did so as well. Sleep had appeared to evade the man, which was not a good thing if he wanted to prevent drowsiness the next day, where the Doctor had announced plans to leave Striaton City once they met with Skylar and Sophie at the Pokemon Center, which meant they would have to travel on foot again. As his eyes finally began to close, a few sniffles sounding out from below Rory snapped him back to full awareness.

Climbing down from the top bunk he occupied, Rory felt his heart sink as he saw his wife lying on her side, her back facing towards him. A few soft sobs escaped her mouth. Though he could not see her face, it did not take much for Rory to imagine the feeling of loss coursing through Amy. Despite the fact that she could have easily sought out another Munna at the Dreamyard to capture after hers was stolen, Amy chose to pursue the Plasma grunts to try and retrieve it. Evidently, despite the strong and determined front that she had erected, the crushing feeling of having something taken away after one had worked so hard to obtain it had hit Amy at the core. "You okay, Amy?"

Realizing that someone had heard her, the woman hastily halted her sobbing, though her body continued to shake from the intense emotion she was feeling. "You're awake, Rory? Go back to sleep and leave me alone."

The nurse sighed. "Amy, I know how you feel."

The woman turned around to face her husband, ignoring the fact that teardrops were streaking across her face. "Oh do you, Rory? Enlighten me then. How do I feel? Huh?"

"The Doctor was right. You aren't fine, are you?"

"What do you think, genius?" snapped Amy.

"I'm just trying to help."

The woman shook her head, continuing to allow the teardrops to flow freely from her eyes. "What has the Doctor done to me, Rory? I could care less about this world when we arrived, and now look at me. I'm crying over a Pokemon."

"That Pokemon is your friend."

Amy lowered her head and sighed. "I know. The Doctor was right. Guess there's no point pretending there's nothing wrong, huh?" She let out a short but sad chuckle. "Heck, everything's gone wrong."

Rory began to wipe the teardrops from his wife's face. "I know."

"The Doctor told you to keep an eye on me, didn't he?"

"How did you know?"

Amy sighed. "I just guessed. I knew that I couldn't hide behind this facade that nothing was wrong for long, and I knew that you two would find out. Plus, I figured that the Doctor would do something like that."

"Guilty as charged."

Amy sat up from her bunk and wrapped her arms around Rory's frame. "Don't stop watching over me."

"I won't. You're not on your own. You still have Lillipup, and he needs his Trainer too. Don't ignore him because of this."

"I won't. I need him as well. I should be thankful to you and the Doctor. Lillipup has been a gift, a gift I would not have received without the Doctor. Because of him, I have been able to see places, and so many other fascinating things that almost no one can even imagine, let alone see for themselves. And every day that we've been together has been a gift. Gifts that I ought to treasure more often."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Not for now, I don't think. Maybe I will be later on. I just don't know. Only time will tell."

"You can't continue like this."

Amy sighed and rested her head on Rory's shoulder. "Of course not, you oaf."

Rory ran his fingers through his wife's hair. "Well, I'm here if you need me. A. A. Milne wrote 'If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.'"

The woman chuckled softly. "You plagiarist. Still, you know how to make me laugh."

The nurse frowned slightly. "Hey, it wasn't meant to be funny."

"I know, I know. I didn't laugh that much, did I?" A few teardrops flowed out of Amy's eyes, which Rory did not hesitate to wipe away.

"Still thinking about your Munna, huh?"

"Yeah." replied Amy sadly.

"It'll always be at the back of your mind until you find it again."

"I know."

"Well, we can't do much about it for now. But I do know that every day that goes by will bring you one step closer to Munna."

"I hope so." replied Amy.

Rory smiled. "Yeah? Well, I know so."

Amy's lips curled themselves into a small smile. "Thank you, Rory."

Rory let go of his wife and made to climb back up his bunk. "Sleep tight, okay?"

Amy reached out and grasped Rory's pyjama sleeve. "Wait." The nurse stopped and turned to face the woman. "Stay with me tonight."

"Alright." Amy shifted herself further into her bunk to make room for her husband, who proceeded to climb in with her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds.

* * *

Author's notes: I got this chapter done in time for the premier of Series 6 of Doctor Who today, though I'm not sure if this chapter was done well or not. And if anyone wants to know what the Doctor's C-Gear does in this story, it's like a Poketech of sorts, and will probably function like a Poketech in the anime. It's game functions don't really have much purpose in an anime-esqe world Flesh and Stnelike the one featured in the story. Anyway, here is this chapter's glossary.

(1) This is a reference to a line spoken by the Doctor in the episode "The Vampires of Venice", where he crashed Rory's stag party and mentioned in detail that Amy tried to kiss him in the previous episode, "Flesh and Stone". To cushion Rory's shock, the Doctor told the nurse that his then-fiancee was "a great kisser", leading to the Time Lord uttering the line.

(2) This is a reference to a line spoken by the Doctor in the episode "Vincent and the Doctor", where the Doctor, in the absense of a plan, mentioned that he had "a thing" in lieu of one. According to the Doctor, what distinguished "a thing" from a plan was that "a thing" had more greatness.

And I'm still taking OCs. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**


	19. Hatching Potential

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell." _– Zora Neale Hurston

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 19: Hatching Potential**

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Corridors, January 6, 2011, 7 a.m.)_

Checking to see that he was not being watched, Adam took out his cell phone and dialed a number. Before long, his call was connected.

A stoic voice spoke out at the other end. "Yes?"

"It's me. I'm making preparations to depart Professor Juniper's lab with some of her other assistants for the Nacrene Museum." said Adam.

"Ah yes, thanks to the information I gave and you planted, those idiotic researchers made quite a few discoveries at the Relic Castle, eh?"

"Yes, they have. I also received word that the Doctor and his assistants would be there shortly."

"Did you prepare that surprise for them?"

"Affirmative. All I have to do is place it undetected."

"We went over this before. Don't tell me that you forgot."

Adam sighed. "I did not forget anything, sir."

The voice chuckled. "Excellent. So you know what to do once you reach Nacrene City."

"Yes."

The person on the other end of the line spoke. "The operation commences at the opening event."

Adam nodded. "It does."

"You know your part in it?

"I do."

"Anything else?"

"I don't believe so."

"Very well. Do not fail us." With those words, the call was terminated.

* * *

_(Striaton City, Pokemon Center, Canteen, January 6, 2011, 8:30 a.m.)_

The Doctor took his seat next to his companions, as he set his breakfast on the table. "Yawn, morning everyone." The only response he received was a shush from Amy as she stared at the new reports on televsion in the canteen with Rory.

"Researchers excavating the ruins of the Relic Castle have announced an exciting and stunning discovery yesterday within the basements of this historic building. Among many crushed human bones, lying on the floor in a passageway inaccessible until recently, reseachers stumbled upon a sheathed claymore with a stunning ebony-black blade. Identified as the Black Claymore of Unova, this sword is the signature weapon of the Black Prince, infamous as the most malevolent ruler to govern the region. Legends speak of his weapon's blade, one which lacked any luster, and seemed to draw all light into it, creating a pocket of localized gloom. Thought to be lost to time until yesterday, the Black Claymore of Unova is infamous as the blade which dispatched thousands if not millions of people and Pokemon alike to the afterworld. Still undiscovered is the Black Claymore's twin, aptly named the White Claymore of Unova, the trusty blade of the White Prince. In contrast to the Black Claymore, the White Claymore is the purist weapon in the region, having never taken a single life. With the discovery of the Black Claymore, researchers are currently looking into the possibility that its twin might be found nearby in the ruins." The Doctor began to chuckle upon hearing the last sentence.

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Doctor? What are you laughing about?"

The Time Lord continued to chuckle. "Oh nothing, Rory. Just nothing." He looked away and stared at the backpack on the floor behind him. _"That claymore's twin is in my backpack! Oh, clever old me, putting things where no one expects to look for them!"_

Amy shushed the two men before turning her attention back to the television. "The location where the Black Claymore was found raises several additional questions. For one, it was known that the Black Prince never went anywhere without his weapon, so its presence in the passageway without its owner is a mystery. Researchers are examining the possibility that his remains may be among the bones found with the weapon. If so, that may shed some light on his location on the fateful day the dragon Pokemon serving him and his twin brother split into Zekrom and Reshi-" The Doctor elbowed his glass of orange juice, causing it to fall off the table and smash into pieces on the floor.

The Time Lord chuckled sheepishly. "Oops... Butterfingers."

Amy sighed. "Seriously, Doctor?" Are you going to break something in every Pokemon Center we stay at?"

The Doctor waved the woman off with a hand gesture. "I'll pay for it. Now shush, there's more."

"The day the two dragons were created was also notable as the day a formal dinner took place, with several dignitaries from other regions in attendance. None of the dinner guests survived the collapse of the castle, and prompted by the discovery of the Black Claymore in the passageway, this raises some mystery as to the Black Prince's location at the time of the dinner, since he was known to have attended it."

The Doctor turned to his companions. "You know, the dinner itself was a state event meant to foster growth and relations between the various Pokemon regions, hence the presence of all those dignitaries. The other regions actually declared war on Unova over the deaths of their dignitaries in the destruction of the Relic Castle."

"So who won the war?" asked Rory.

The Time Lord looked apprehensive. "Well, I wouldn't say anyone won, Rory."

"What do you mean, Doctor?"

"The other regions allied together against Unova, so their armies outnumbered those of Unova's. But, but when the two sides met on the battlefield, lovely day it was by the way, Zekrom happened to be passing by. And on that lovely day, the Deep Black Pokemon proceeded to painfully, painfully massacre the invading armies. Did I mention that it was a lovely day?"

"Three times already."

"Alright, well, let me reaffirm once again, that it was a lovely day."

Rory sighed. "And that makes four. So Zekrom protected its region. Is that dragon as bad as everyone says it is?"

"Yes, since Zekrom also killed a large number of Unova's soldiers in that incident as well. The dragon didn't exactly distinguish between who was on which army. It just saw the large numbers of men as target practice for its Bolt Strike attacks." The Doctor let out a deep sigh. "War doesn't create winners, it just creates losers. Lots and lots of losers." The Time Lord returned his attention to the television.

"Also discovered in a closet nearby were the regal robes of the Black Prince, along with his crown, which confirms records that he did not attend the dinner wearing them, choosing to defy convention. Surprisingly, they apear to be completely intact, with no damage whatsoever. The robes and crown of the White Prince are yet to be found, though it is known that he wore them at the dinner. For researchers, the search of the Relic Castle continues for them." The news anchor cleared her throat. "In other news, Zekrom has struck again yesterday, this time in Undella Town, causing moderate infrastructural damage, four days since its last sighting in Icirrus City. Researchers are currently trying to determine the cause of its undue aggressive behavior. Following the attack, fifteen Trainers and their Pokemon were reported missing."

The Doctor began to push buttons on his C-Gear as he tore his eyes away from the television. "More Trainers and their Pokemon missing... Dear, oh dear..."

"Are you still tinkering with your C-Gear, Doctor?" asked Amy.

"Might as well figure out what it does, and so far, I like what I see. Anyway, since we pretty much done with breakfast, I'd suggest waiting in the lobby for Skylar and Sophie."

* * *

_(Striaton City, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 6, 2011, 9 a.m.)_

Sitting in one of the lobby's chairs, Amy sighed impatiently as she tugged on sides of her skirt. "How long do we have to wait for them?"

"Well, we can't leave until they come." replied Rory

The Doctor massaged his temples as he checked his watch. "Speaking of waiting, we've been doing that for quite a while now."

Shrugging, Rory walked up to Nurse Joy's counter, attracting the woman's attention. "Yes? How may I help you, Rory?"

"Excuse me, but I do believe we've met, at the Accumula Town Pokemon Center?"

Nurse Joy scratched her head. "No, I don't think so."

"There's someone called Nurse Joy at the Accumula Town Pokemon Center."

The woman clicked her fingers. "Oh, you must have me confused with my younger sister. She's the Nurse Joy who works at Accumula Town. See?" Reaching under her counter, Nurse Joy pulled out a photograph identical to the one the Doctor had showed Rory and Amy the previous day. She pointed at one of the women depicted before shifting her finger to another. "This is me, and that over there is my sister, the Nurse Joy you met."

Rory looked slightly confused. "Oh I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding."

"That's okay, a few people make that mistake."

Rory nodded and walked back to his companions. "That photo you showed us really wasn't Photoshopped, Doctor."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Of course not, I believe I said that already. Now do you believe me?" Rory simply nodded.

As the Time Lord finished his sentence, the doors to the Pokemon Center slid open, drawing his attention and that of his companions. Locked in an argument and having not seen the Doctor yet, Skylar and Sophie walked into the facility.

Sophie frowned at her companion. "If you didn't trip over your feet like that every five seconds, we won't be late!"

"Oh, so I'm to blame? Who's the one that slept in this morning, huh?" replied Skylar.

"Whatever, just stop, okay? We're here already and we're supposed to meet the Doctor. What would he think if he saw us arguing like this? Thank goodness he hasn't seen us yet."

The Time Lord chuckled in amusement, gaining the attention of both girls. "It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"

Skylar looked up at the man she was supposed to meet. "Doctor!"

"Well, nice to see you again, Skylar."

Skylar turned to face her companion. "Nice going, Sophie, now he saw us. You know, you can be such an argumentative..."

Sophie huffed, cutting her companion off. "Oh save it for someone who cares, why don't you?"

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. "Okay, arguments aside, you must be Sophie, am I correct?"

"Yeah."

"Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor, and these are my assistants, Rory and Amy. Hmmm... Looks like we have quite a long walk ahead of us. Route 3 to Nacrene City looks like it would take maybe thirteen hours to traverse, though I won't discount the possibility that we'll have to spend a night on the road before we actually get there. Now, shall we be off?"

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, January 6, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

The Doctor whistled a tune as he walked at the head of the group. "Well, looks like we've been at it for a while now. And Skylar, do try not to trip over your feet so often. I don't know if Rory will be able to treat all those scrapes on your hands if you keep this up."

Skylar crossed her arms and huffed. "I'm trying, I'm trying."

"Well, _try harder_, will you?"

"Doctor, you're being rude." muttered Amy.

The Time Lord shrugged and continued to walk until he reached a small hill with a steep road built into it. "Hmmm... It looks like we're doing some hiking."

Sophie sighed. "Do we really have to hike up that hill?"

"Don't be so lazy, Sophie. And stop complaining. I already get enough of that from Amy."

The woman glared at the Doctor. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Continuing his upward hike of the hill, the Time Lord turned around and stared at his companions. "Exactly what I said, you and your sore feet. Now you know what they say, 'you never know what's on the other side of a hill until you scale it'."

"Should you be walking up that hill backwards, Doctor?" asked Skylar.

"Oh relax Skylar, it's not like I'll reach the top anytime soon without knowing it and fall off the other sideeeeee...!" No sooner had those words left the Doctor's mouth, he reached the summit of the hill while walking backwards and stumbled, his feet having tried to make contact with the earth but finding only air. In front of his companions' eyes, he disappeared over the hill's summit.

"Wow, I finally found someone clumsier than me. I never thought that day would come." muttered Skylar.

"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after." muttered Amy.

"What are you talking about, Amy?" asked Sophie.

Rory waved the girl off. "Nevermind. Let's make sure the Doctor didn't break his own crown when he tumbled down the hill."

Sitting on his rear end at the base of the other side of the hill, the Doctor shook his head slightly to remove his disorientation. Reaching behind him, he patted the front pocket of his backpack, which was secured by the zips with a small brass padlock. His face registered tense shock as he felt for a large ring of metal through the fabric of his backpack. He let out out a deep sigh of relief when he felt the object he was searching for, discovering it to be undamaged and intact from his rough excursion from the summit of the hill. _"Well, at least I didn't break my crown when I tumbled down the hill. That thing is centuries old." _The Time Lord looked up to see his companions reach the hill's summit and walk over to him.

"Hey Doctor, you okay?" asked Rory.

The Doctor rubbed his temples. "Ask me that again when my head stops ringing, Rory. Maybe I'll have a proper answer for you then." He gazed at the knees of his pants and elbows of his tweed jacket. "Awww... Did I tear my clothes again?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

Amy sighed. "He got his clothes torn a week ago from a scuffle with an unusually vicious Minccino."

"I see."

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh nevermind that, I'll just stitch it up again later."

While the Doctor examined the damage to his clothes, Amy's gaze was captured by a sparkle from some bushes next to the road and out of the corner of her eye. The woman turned her back on her companions and walked over to the glimmer that caught her attention.

The Doctor felt the front of his backpack with his left hand, finding the large metal ring again. With his right hand, he touched the top of his head. "Disregarding the clothes, at least my crowns are okay."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Crowns?"

Rory pointed to the top of the Time Lord's cranium. "You only have _one_ crown, Doctor. Are you sure you don't have a concussion or something?"

Still in a sitting position, the Doctor crossed his arms. "Really, Rory, I'm fine."

The nurse shrugged. "If you say so."

The Time Lord turned his gaze to Amy, who by this time had walked out from the bushes, her arms wrapped around a cylindrical object. "Speaking of stitching, what have you got over there, Pond?"

The woman shrugged. "I saw it poking out from the bushes by the corner of my eye." She set the object on the ground in front of the Doctor, prompting her companions to cluster around him for a closer look. The object was an egg case with cracks along its frame, and resting on its pillow was a egg with a white top and brown bottom. Its shell was adorned by several red streaks which ran along its circumference.

"Hmm... An egg case. Slightly damaged too. Well, it's a good thing the container served its purpose, and the egg inside didn't meet the same fate as it."

Skylar scratched her head. "So, where did it come from, and how did it come to be in those bushes? You think a Trainer dropped it?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Trainers are supposed to take the utmost care of their eggs, so I don't think so."

"Well, it could be an accident."

"I doubt it."

Amy clapped her hands a few times. "Oooo... Think I can keep it?" The Doctor and Rory rolled their eyes.

"I know you're still somewhat down about losing your Munna, Pond, but if the egg's in a case, I believe someone already owns it." said the Time Lord. "Question is, who?"

The woman crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine, you party pooper."

"There has to be something written on the case. The owner's contact information, I suppose." remarked Sophie.

The Time Lord shrugged as he lifted the lid. "Oh, lookie here. _'Please return to Sunset Daycare Center on Route 3.'_ Just around the corner, it seems."

Skylar scratched her head. "Nothing on the species?"

"Well, what if it was a rare one? I think revealing what species of Pokemon the egg is may reduce the chances of the daycare center getting it back, don't you think? Especially if it was rare or endangered. Besides, it saves them time and effort to simply label all their egg cases with just their address."

"So why was it lying in those bushes over there?"

"I think a delivery cart headed for the daycare center was driving along up the hill and probably hit a bump or something. Anyway, that must have dislodged the egg case and sent it into the bushes over there. Now we just have to return it."

"Okay, but what's a daycare center?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You're the assistant of a famous Pokemon researcher and you _don't_ know what a daycare center is, Amy?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Let's just say _Professor Smith_ over here neglected to inform me about the finer details of this world."

The Doctor chuckled sheepishly. "Alright fine, I guess I do owe you an explaination, Pond. A daycare center is a facility which takes Trainers' Pokemon and raises them for a fee, as some Trainers don't have the time to do it themselves. They also have a business on the side which breeds Pokemon eggs. They may also take care of the eggs and hatch Pokemon themselves. Sometimes, Pokemon left in a daycare center would mate and produce eggs, which the Trainer who left the Pokemon there is given the option of keeping. If not, the daycare center raises the young Pokemon themselves."

"The two Pokemon produce eggs even if they are different species?"

"Yes, Pond. Even if they are different species."

Rory looked puzzled. "Well, how on Earth does that work?"

"Not very well if you're _actually on Earth_, I can tell you that. Different species breeding, I mean. You get things like mules and ligers and tiglons, which wind up having genetic deficiencies and are generally sterile."

"What are mules and ligers? Are they rare Pokemon?" asked Skylar.

The Doctor chuckled. "If you find one, you might think so."

"There's no such thing as tigl..."

Before Skylar could finish her sentence, Amy cut her off. "Very funny, Doctor, but I believe Rory was talking about Pokemon of different species breeding."

"Oh! Rory was talking about the Pokemon."

"What else do you think he was talking about? No wait, actually, _don't_ answer that."

"Fine then. Each species of Pokemon belongs to one or two of what you call egg groups, with almost all Pokemon of the same evolutionary line belonging to the same egg group or groups. If two Pokemon of different genders are in the same egg group, regardless of species, they can breed. Well, that's the rule in most circumstances. The hatched offspring is of the lowest evolutionary stage in the mother's evolutionary line, and it has a tendency of occasionally inheriting moves known by the father."

"That's interesting and fascinating, albeit hard to believe." remarked Rory. "So how do Pokemon lay eggs?"

The Doctor's face took on a mysterious look. "That is one of the biggest, biggest, and I mean biggest mysteries of this world. No one has ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER seen a Pokemon lay an egg."

"What, it happens so often and you're telling me that no one knows how an egg is laid?"

"That's true, Rory. In fact, I think the lucky sap who actually sees a Pokemon lay an egg would be hailed as a celebrity in the scientific world." said Sophie.

The Doctor stood up, dusting off his torn tweed jacket and pant legs before handing the egg case to Amy and walking off. "Well, enough chit-chat. Let's stop here for lunch, and then after that, we really should find that daycare center and return the egg before the sun goes down. In fact, I think it might do so anytime soon at the pace we're going. And Sophie, do try and move a tad faster after lunch, will you?" His back to his companions, the Time Lord failed to see the frown on Sophie's face as he began to prepare a meal.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, January 6, 2011, 2:15 p.m.)_

After walking for an hour, Amy stopped as a building a few meters away from the route caught her eye. "Oh look, there's a farm off the side of the path. Think I'll hop over for a minute and smell the flowers."

Skylar looked unsure at Amy's decision. "Uh, Amy? Maybe you shouldn't step off the road."

The woman scoffed. "Oh relax, I'll just take a look at that farm for a few minutes. You know, admire the sights."

"That's trespassing!" Amy simply shrugged her shoulders at the girl and walked on towards the farm.

The Doctor turned to Rory and whispered softly. "I tell her to stay in the TARDIS and when does she actually listen to me **(1)**? Just make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble." The Time Lord stared at the cracked egg case he was holding. "And we still have to return this egg."

"Doctor, it's a farm. How much trouble can she get into?"

"She's technically trespassing."

"Good point."

"Well, go after her then. Actually, nevermind, I'll come with you." The Doctor turned to Skylar and Sophie. "You two just wait here, okay?" After receiving affirmative nods, the Time Lord followed Rory into the field.

Before long, the Doctor and Rory caught up to Amy, who was sitting on the grass and admiring the sights. "Ah there you two are, look at those flowers. Aren't they beautiful?"

Setting down the egg case, the Time Lord smiled before sitting down next to his companion. "I suppose so. Hmmm... Daisies. I know for a fact that daisies are favourite flower of the White Prince's Serperior."

"Is that so?"

"Just a random piece of trivia I thought I might add."

Rory moved to join them before he noticed something at his feet. "Hey look, there's a Pokeball on the ground."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "No, don't!" Before the Time Lord could stop Rory, the nurse bent down to touch the described object sticking out from the grass. No sooner did Rory's fingers make contact with it, the Pokeball tilted backwards, revealing that it was only a half-sphere, and was the cap of a small white body underneath it. The body had stubby arms, pinprick eyes, and a large pink mouth. The creature glared at Rory before releasing a mist of orange powder from under its cap at the man. Rory fell over backwards, his body paralyzed, with his arm still outstretched as it was when it tried to pick up the creature.

Amy was puzzled. "What happened?"

The Time Lord gazed at a nearby sign and sighed. "By the looks of that sign over there, we just found the Sunset Daycare Center, which happens to be the farm, and what happened was their security system, which Rory just tripped."

"The daycare center is the farm?"

"It's possible. Just so it can be self-sustaining."

"So what did Rory come across?"

The Doctor shrugged. "The security system."

Amy huffed. "I know that, _genius_. What I meant was what those Pokemon were."

"Normally I'd explain it, but you have a Pokedex."

"Oh, right." Amy pulled out the device and held it in front of the creature, before it quickly scurried away.

_Foongus, the Mushroom Pokemon. Foongus lures people in with its Pokeball pattern, then releases poisonous spores. Why it resembles a Pokeball is unknown._

"And Rory caught a whiff of that Foongus' Stun Spore. Nasty stuff if you ask me. He'll be paralyzed like that for a few minutes now." The Time Lord bent down to stare at Rory's face. "Now, if you were more observant, like I was trying to teach you, this would not have happened."

Amy huffed. "How was he to know there was a Pokemon that looks like a Pokeball?"

"There are Voltorb and Electrode. They look like Pokeballs."

"You said they weren't found in the Unova region!"

"Point taken, Pond."

"So what do we do about Rory?"

"Oh, just wait a few minutes for the Stun Spore to wear off. In that time, I think the Foongus went off to alert the homeowners." The Doctor shrugged and gestured to the egg case on the grass next to him. "Well, just sit tight. If anything, we're here to return this egg."

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Living Room, January 6, 2011, 2:30 p.m.)_

A short, elderly woman with gray hair gently set the egg Amy found into a new egg case before placing it on the coffee table.

"Well, I really must thank you lot for taking the time to come over here and return this egg. It really worried the heck out of us when we discovered that it was missing from the cart that came in yesterday. We were just about to put up signs too. I apologize if the Foongus seem quite testy though."

"That's quite alright, it was Rory's mistake." replied the Doctor, eliciting a frown from the nurse.

"Hey! How was I to know that the Pokeball was really a Pokemon?" asked Rory.

"That's how they lure you in, mate. Just be glad it wasn't a Voltorb. By the way, what's it like to get hit by a Pokemon's Stun Spore? Well, I haven't experienced it, and I doubt I ever want to."

"Unpleasant. I couldn't move a muscle in my entire body for minutes. I think I got a cramp somewhere."

The elderly woman clared her throat. "Now that the matter's settled, I'm Rosemary. I run the daycare center with my husband Victor. He's working out in the fields right now."

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "Well, how do you do? You can call me the Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

The Time Lord cleared his throat. "_Just_ the Doctor, thank you very much."

Rosemary raised an eyebrow. "Really? How coincidental. We have another guest here that _absolutely_ insists on being called 'the Doctor'."

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "What?"

We have another guest here that _absolutely.._."

The Doctor threw his arms up in exasperation. "I heard you the first time!"

Amy huffed. "Doctor, you're being rude."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond, you're being repetitive. How can there be another Doctor? There's only one of me!"

"I don't think you're the only person to be called a 'Doctor'." said Sophie.

The Doctor huffed. "Not 'a Doctor', '_the Doctor_'!" The Time Lord let out a sigh and turned to Rosemary. "So where is this 'Doctor'?"

"Oh, he's outside fixing our lawnmower. The poor dear, he looks like he's what? Fifty or sixty? I don't know if he should be messing around with machines like ours."

The Doctor scratched his head. "He's not fixing it, he's improving it **(2)**."

"Hey, that's what he told us too. Do you two know each other, by any chance?"

The Doctor bit his lip. "Maybe. I'm not sure. Perhaps."

Rory tapped the Time Lord on the shoulder. "Doctor? You're rambling."

"Oh, sorry about that."

Rosemary continued to talk. "Well, the charming gentleman fixed-"

"Improved." interrupted the Doctor.

"Right. _Improved_ our fireplace too." Rosemary strode over to the unusually ornamented fireplace and flicked on the switch, causing a sharp blue flame to erupt from the installation. Within a matter of seconds, the room was the temperature of a sauna, causing all inside to sweat heavily. Rosemary hastily turned the fireplace off and gazed at the flame as it quickly died out. "Well, maybe he _improved_ it too well. Goodness knows what I plan to do with a fire that intense."

"You say this other 'Doctor' person is outside?" asked Rory.

"Why yes, dear. In the field in fact, as you say, improving..." Before Rosemary could get another word out, the Doctor dashed out the front door and took a sharp turn around the building, headed for the location described by Rosemary.

Skylar scratched her head. "Gee, what's gotten the Doctor in a rush? Especially over someone who goes by the same name?"

"Are young folk these days always in a rush? I was going to ask you all to sit down for some tea."

Amy sighed. "He always does that."

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Fields, January 6, 2011, 2:40 p.m.)_

Hunched over in a squating position, a stocky, well-built man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties held a wrench in his left hand and a silver tubular device with a yellow band and red ring on top in his right hand as he examined the inner workings of a lawnmower. He had a full head of white curly hair styled in a bouffant and wore a white frilled dress shirt with a red bow tie. He also wore black pants and a pair of fine black shoes. Over his shirt, he wore a red smoking jacket. "Hmmm... Maybe it will go faster if I reverse the polarity of..."

"Oh, that's your answer to everything, _Doctor_! Why do these nice people need a hyper-fast lawnmower anyway?"

The man looked up from his work on the lawnmower and stared at the Doctor. "Mastery of Clear Mind tends to give you a zeal for speed, yes." The man scratched his head. "Excuse me, young man, but do I know you from somewhere?"

"Maybe not, but I know you, _Doctor_."

Still holding a wrench in his left hand, the man stood up, pocketing the tubular device before offering his right hand to the Doctor. "Yes, that's me alright, I'm the Doctor. And who are you, if I may ask?"

The Doctor took the man's offered hand and shook it. "Yes, you're the Doctor. And as for me, take a look and tell me who you think I am."

"Right now, to me, you seem like a young man that's a bit rough around the edges. And if I may add, _evasive_."

"What? Evasive?"

"You didn't tell me who you are, yet you knew who I am. Are you keeping tabs on me? Then again, my reputation preceeds me in some places, though I don't recall Unova ever being one of them. Well, not as who I am right now, but _who I was_."

The Doctor shrugged. "I know. A former identity being that of the White Prince, master of Reshi-"

The man dropped his wrench, which proceeded to strike the lawnmower with a resounding clang. He pointed at the Doctor. "Now how in the name of Gallifrey do you know all of this?"

"Ah Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords. Where's your TARDIS by the way?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Are you a Time Lord?"

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and twirled it around. "Took you long enough to notice. And here I thought I would need to drop more hints."

"Now see here, young man. I don't know why they sent you, but I believe that my exile on Earth is over and my memories were returned **(3)**, so I'm free to go where I wish, thank you very much."

"Still working for UNIT **(4)**?"

The man nodded. "I do some work for them, yes. But I honestly believe this is my vacation now. But how do you know all this? Oh right, you know who I am, and if I may guess, was most likely sent here by the Time Lords."

"That's fine, I never did resign my position with UNIT."

"You have a position with UNIT? There was only one Time Lord who ever worked for UNIT, me!"

"That's right, you. And there's still only one Time Lord on record who worked for them, and that is the Doctor."

"Who are you?"

"Look at me and tell me what you see."

The man stared at the Doctor's neck. "Hmmm... A bow tie. Didn't think they were still in fashion at this time."

"Bow ties are cool."

"Yes, they are. Wait, the only person that would say this is..."

The Doctor smirked. _"Wait for it... Wait for it..."_

"Myself. So that must mean..."

"Exactly what you think."

The man's eyes widened as he came to a realization. "You are me. One of my replacements. Which incarnation then?"

The Doctor nodded. "Eleventh."

The man scratched his head. "Eleventh? Quite a far stretch. I didn't envision myself living that long, considering all the nonsense I'm embroiled myself in."

"You give yourself too little credit, Doctor."

"And I think you give yourself too much, me. I'm the Third, but I suppose you already know that, since I came after the old codger and the clown. Well, good to know the bow tie stays in at least one of my future selves. I would say I've gotten rather dashing too."

The Eleventh Doctor beamed at the man who he knew to be his past self. "Why, thank you. That must have been one of the nicest compliments I've given myself."

The Third Doctor smiled. "You're very welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, this lawnmower needs attending to."

"Tinkering away with it, I see **(5)**?"

"Uh huh. I should be coming in shortly. By the way, are you with any companions? And if so, will they believe you if I said that you are me?"

"I think two of them will. The other two, I'm not so sure."

The Third Doctor bent down and picked up his dropped wrench. "Good enough. Now I don't mean to chase myself off after meeting him, but I really do believe I have work that need to be done. Unless you wish to assist me?"

"Clear Mind, you say? Apart from that, why do you need to make their lawnmower go at Mach-1 speeds?"

"Oh well, Clear Mind does gives you that obsession with speed, as I'm sure that you're aware. But anyway, I figured that I might as well thank them for their hospitality, seeing as I'm leaving in my TARDIS tomorrow. I'm in Unova sightseeing and all, but I suppose you already know that, Doctor. Speaking of TARDISes, where's yours? Actually, scratch that question. How were we supposed to meet like this in the first place? The laws of time should have prohibited two versions of the same person from ever meeting each other **(6)**!"

"Laws were meant to be broken, Doctor. I'm sure no one felt that more strongly than you. To make a long story short, let's just say I kinda forgot that I visited this time period when I was you. Well, I came to Nuvema Town a week ago, and Zekrom damaged my TARDIS with a bolt of artron energy, so I'm now stuck here until the old girl repairs herself."

The Third Doctor's face belied disbelief. "Zekrom has been unsealed? And it damaged your TARDIS with artron energy? Zekrom doesn't have that ability!"

"Exactly! So now I'm trying to find out if it really is Zekrom."

"Well, at least I have a handle on things and a plan to investigate, _in one form or another_."

The Eleventh Doctor slapped his forehead. "Oh shoot! I just remembered that my past selves also took trips to Unova around this time period as well!"

The Third Doctor let out a brief chuckle. "Well in that case, depending on where you are, you might wind up meeting a good number of them. You've certainly met me, even if it's a staunch violation of the First Law of Time. But don't worry, I'll do myself a favor and keep it from the Time Lords. What's a secret if I'm the only one keeping it?" The Eleventh Doctor smiled as he bent down and examined the work his past self put into the lawnmower. "Now to just pull that switch, and..." The lawnmower roared to life and began to shake. "Now to test it out. I volunteered to mow their lawn, see? But I think you should give it a go. That is, unless your Blazing Soul wants to wimp out."

Before the Eleventh Doctor could react, his past self gave him a sharp push on the back, sending his hands grasping onto the lawnmower's handle. Spurred on by the force applied to it by the Eleventh Doctor's body, flames emitted from the lawnmower's engines, as it drove forward onto the lawn and began cutting the grass on its own volition, dragging a very unwilling Eleventh Doctor along for the ride. The Third Doctor chuckled as he saw the look of sheer terror on his future self's face as the other Time Lord was being involuntarily pulled forward on whatever path the speedy lawnmower chose to take through the field. The churning of the lawnmower succeeded in startling a few Foongus residing in the lawn, as they quickly dispersed away from the grass-hungry garden machine in a desperate bid to avoid being cut to pieces.

"NEVERMIND MY BLAZING SOUL, HOW DO YOU STOP THIS THING?" shrieked the Eleventh Doctor, as he put a large amount of energy into steering the lawnmower back on the path it came from, in order to avoid a painful collision with a fencepost.

The Third Doctor simply shrugged, an amused look painted on his visage. "Use your Blazing Soul to seal it into a card!" The Eleventh Doctor glared at his past self. "Just kidding. Come to think about it, I'm not sure. I was still working out the kinks for that when you showed up!"

The Eleventh Doctor's ride eventually came to an abrupt end as the lawnmower he was clutching headed straight towards the large white statue of a man with combed back hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with a Snivy standing proudly atop his left shoulder. As the Eleventh Doctor steered the garden machine to his left, he failed to account for the clearance needed to bring himself along the same direction. With a painful smack, the Time Lord collided head-on into the statue's pedestal, releasing his grip on the lawnmower's handle. The garden machine continued on the path the Eleventh Doctor had steered it towards for a few more meters, before stopping when it crashed into a toolshed.

The Third Doctor chuckled. "Oooo... Went straight into the White Prince's statue..." The Time Lord took out a pen and notepad from his pocket and began to write. "Note to self, reduce force output on the thrusters..." The Third Doctor turned to see his future self fall backwards from the pedestal of the White Prince's statue. "...and get myself an icepack."

"I heard a crash. Is anyone hurt?" The Third Doctor looked up from his notes to see an elderly man run over on the scene.

"No, Victor, just myself." replied the Time Lord, staring at his future self lying at the base of the pedestal.

"Yourself?"

"Nevermind that. I'll work more on the lawnmower in a bit. I trust the modifications I made to your refrigerator was to your liking?" Victor nodded. The Third Doctor pointed at his dazed future self. "By the way, mind getting him an icepack?"

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Living Room, January 6, 2011, 3:20 p.m.)_

The door opened as the Eleventh Doctor strode in with a start. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Doctor!" The Time Lord dramatically flung his arms out in front of the doorframe as his past self walked in after him.

Sophie looked up from her tea. "So even the Doctor admits this other guy is also called that. What changed his mind? He was so displeased to hear that there was another 'Doctor' at first."

Amy stared at the Third Doctor, causing his to raise an eyebrow. "Yes, young lady? Is there a blemish on my bow tie, by any chance?"

The woman shook her head. "Hey, you're that man from the Atraxi projection **(7)**. The third one, I think."

The Third Doctor scratched his head. "Atraxi projection? Are they keeping records on me now? Well, I shan't be surprised. Look at me, I'm the Doctor." He turned to his future self. "Is that how they know about me and you being well, you know, the same person?"

The Eleventh Doctor nodded. "Uh huh."

"I see the ego hasn't changed much." muttered Amy to herself. Her eyes shifted to the far wall, where she noticed an oil painting of a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair, dressed in regal robes. His right hand was outstretched, holding his claymore out in front of his person, the blade ivory-white. A Serperior was seen in the background, curling her body at various points around the man. "Is that?"

A voice could be heard from the door. "Why yes, that's the White Prince and his Serperior." Everyone turned to see Victor walk into the room. "You know, without them, this place would never have existed."

Skylar picked up a muffin. "That's a story I'd like to hear."

"Well, we're descended from Leon Hardwick. He's the one that started this daycare center. He and his brothers Eric and Harold met the White Prince and spent a day with him. The White Prince had just finished a speech from the balcony of the Relic Castle too."

_Standing from the balcony of his castle, a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair dressed in regal robes, with a sheathed claymore attached to his left side, cleared his throat. He gazed at the massive crowd assembled below him. "And so, hmmm, I firmly believe that this is the path we must continue onwards in order to lead the great kingdom of Unova towards prosperity and success. Thank you." _

_The man smiled as he heard loud cheers erupt from the crowd. "LONG LIVE THE WHITE PRINCE OF UNOVA!" He waved for a few seconds before retreating into the castle. _

_The crowd dispered as three young boys began to talk amongst themselves. "Hey, what do you guys think the White Prince does for the rest of the day?" asked Leon._

_"I bet he spends it in his study signing charters and such." replied Harold._

_Eric smirked as a cheeky image appeared in his head. "No, I think he goes and tells off the Black Prince."_

_"Personally, I think he meets the council to discuss royal matters." said Leon to his brothers._

_A voice spoke out from behind the three boys. "Hmmm? No, he spends it with some kids." The boys spun around and saw the same man who had given the speech standing right behind them. _

_The boys immediately got onto their knees and kneeled before the man. "My prince!"_

_Behind the man, a Serperior poked her head out before slithering towards the boys, prompting them to back away in fright. The man let out a low chuckle. "Feel free to pet her. Do not worry, she will not bite." Leon hesitantly reached his hand out, and the Serperior lowered her head to allow it to make contact with her crown._

_Leon rubbed the Regal Pokemon's head for a minute before withdrawing his hand. "I-I t-touched-d t-the W-White Prince's-s S-S-Serperior-r..."_

_"So where's your Emboar and Samurott?" asked Eric, prompting Harold to whack him upside the head._

_"Do not be rude!"_

_"I'm just asking."_

_The White Prince chuckled. "Eh? It's okay, he can ask. They're at the castle right now." He scratched his head. "So what is it that you boys do everyday?"_

"And so with his Serperior, the White Prince took some time out of his busy schedule to spend the day with the three brothers. And they asked him a lot of questions too, on things like royal life and how he ran the kingdom and such. And he answered all their questions. Eric loved to draw as a hobby, and the White Prince taught him how to see meaning in every image he captured, to look beyond just what his eyes perceived. Harold enjoyed making crafts with his hands, and the White Prince showed him how to feel the materials changing and bending to his will as he reformed them into a sculpture. Being one with his work is what any true artist to strive for." said Victor.

Amy waved her hand in front of the Eleventh Doctor's face. "Doctor? Hey Doctor. Are you spacing out again?"

The Eleventh Doctor blinked as he snapped himself out of his thoughts. "Oh, it looks like I am. Sorry."

Rory stared at the Third Doctor. "Not just our Doctor, he looks like he's in the same trance as well."

The Third Doctor blinked like his future self did. "Excuse me, are you talking to me, boy?"

"And what about Leon? What did the White Prince do for him?" asked Skylar.

"Oh, that came in his parting from the boys." replied Rosemary.

_The sun began to set as the White Prince and his Serperior smiled at the three boys. "Well, thank you for letting me spend the day with you. It has been a real pleasure."_

_Leon shook his head. "Are you joking? The honor was all ours! You spent the day with us! What are the chances of that ever happening?"_

_"Eh? I see myself as a person, just like you, Leon."_

_"But you are the White Prince of Unova!"_

_"And a humble man, as I'm sure you three will grow up to be. I have something for each of you." The White Prince handed each boy a light green egg, each one with a three-pointed leaf design on their centers._

_Harold's mouth dropped open. "Are these?"_

_The White Prince nodded. "Eggs laid by my Serperior here. My Samurott's their father."_

_"Is your Serperior really okay with you giving her eggs to us like this?" asked Eric._

_"She would not have it any other way. Right Seperior?" The Regal Pokemon nodded with a smile._

_"Wow, thank you. Thank you so much, my Lord."_

_"It was no problem at all. The future is yours to make, boys. Make the best out of it and seize the day. Farewell!" The White Prince turned around walked off, his Serperior slithering after him. Clutching their eggs, the boys waved as they saw the White Prince's back get smaller and smaller over the horizon. _

"And that's how we came to be the breeding ground for the Snivy given to beginning Trainers, and we've been at it for centuries. Shortly after the White Prince's death, the population of the Snivy evolutionary line was in deep decline in the wild, due to poaching. It suddenly became desirable to own members of the Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott evolutionary lines among Unova's population because the White Prince owned them himself. As such,Leondecided that the gift he was granted by the man should be protected, yes, but also shared with the people of Unova. And so he founded this place. A good number of the Snivy that Professor Juniper distributes are descended from the White Prince's Serperior and Samurott. They're very desirable among Trainers, I can tell you. You seem to be trustworthy folk, so that's why I'm telling you. Though I would ask that you keep it a secret from anyone else." Victor received nods from all present in the room. "Now that I think about it, this may have been the reason the White Prince entrusted Leon and his brothers with those Snivy eggs. Counting on one of them to protect the species from extinction, he sensed that they greatly admired him and guessed that they would protect his legacy one day when they were older. And he guessed correctly. If so, then he really had great foresight"

The Eleventh Doctor beamed as he heard Victor's words. "Makes sense. The breeding grounds of starter Pokemon are kept a secret from most of the region's population, to prevent poachers from coming after the eggs and young Pokemon." _"You did with the Snivy egg what I had hoped for, Leon. And your descendants to this very day too. Good on you, mate. I can't be any more proud."_

"Yes, that's right. In fact, our grandson just started his own Pokemon journey last week. Left with a Snivy as his starter Pokemon. A Snivy that is descended from the White Prince's Serperior and Samurott." said Rosemary.

The Time Lord was snapped out of his thoughts when Rory raised a question. "So how does anyone know if their Snivy is descended from the White Prince's Pokemon?"

"The Pokeballs they are placed in have a spot of radiophilic dye on them as a marker. Invisible to the naked eye, you need an expensive specialized scanner to detect its presence." replied Victor.

The Eleventh Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and his Snivy's Pokeball. He waved the device over the Pokeball and scanned its surface, eventually finding a neon-blue outline of a leaf on the top of the sphere. _"Hmmm... Didn't see that there before. Then again, I didn't know it was there."_

The Third Doctor stared at his future self. "Excuse me Doctor, but what are you doing?"

"Just testing a theory. I have a Snivy from Professor Juniper here, does the marker look like this by any chance?"

Victor stared at the marking on the Pokeball in the Time Lord's hand, illuminated by the sonic screwdriver. "You have a scanner too? Funny, I don't recall one ever looking like that. But yup, that's the one. Congratulations, your Snivy is a proud descendent of the White Prince's Pokemon."

The Eleventh Doctor beamed. "Well, that's something she'll be proud of."

The Third Doctor chuckled. "So I'll be training Pokemon again in the future. And one of them will be related to the Serperior and Samurott that inspired Unova's starter Pokemon choices. Well I'll be..."

"So what happened to the other brothers?" asked Sophie.

"Well, Eric became an accomplished artist, that was always his dream. Most of his paintings, like the one on the wall you just saw, featured the White Prince and his Pokemon, actually." replied Rosemary. "And Harold, well, he followed his dream of becoming a sculptor. He crafted the first statues of the princes to be publicly erected in Unova, years after their deaths, sponsored by Allen and Kayla Pierce, two of the royal servants. He carved the statue of the White Prince outside too." The Eleventh Doctor cringed as he recalled his collision with said statue.

"They really idolized the White Prince, huh?"

"You can say that he had quite the impact on their lives despite only meeting them once. That's who he is, he takes people, and transforms their lives forever, for better or for worst, from as little as one encounter."

The Third Doctor picked up a cup of tea. "Well, I should be getting to work on those appliances soon. After all, I'm leaving in the morning."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked the Eleventh Doctor.

"Yes, pass me a silicon rod." Raising an eyebrow, the Eleventh Doctor did as his past self instructed. Upon receiving the item he asked for, the Third Doctor proceeded to stir his tea with it.

The Eleventh Doctor huffed. "I mean, is there anything I can do to assist you in your tinkering **(8)**?"

The Third Doctor took a sip of his beverage. "I suppose so. Means I'll get my work done faster. You spending the night here?"

"I suppose so. Rosemary said it was fine if we did."

"Excellent. Well, let's get down to work, shall we?"

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Third Doctor's Bedroom, January 6, 2011, 10:30 p.m.)_

The Third Doctor's eyes snapped open as a loud ruckus shook his sleeping body awake. He climbed out of his bed, dashed to the window of his guest room, and was forced to squint his eyes as the intense glare of a helicopter's searchlights wrecked havoc on his sense of sight. Though the blinding light, he could make out the shapes of several Plasma grunts descending down on lines dangling from the helicopters. Several Foongus laid unconscious in the fields as they were assulted by the grunts' Pokemon. The Time Lord tore his eyes away from the sight as he ran out of the room, and upon exit, he felt the form of another person running down the corridor and colliding with his right shoulder. The other person crumpled to the floor from the impact and clutched his forehead with a groan.

The Third Doctor looked down at the fallen person and chuckled in amusement. "Goodness gracious, Doctor. Do you require another icepack, by any chance?"

The Eleventh Doctor rubbed his forehead and slowly got to his feet. "I think I might need a hundred more if this keeps up. Ow my head..."

"Stop being such a sissy whiner and smarten up."

"If you haven't noticed, the farm is under attack, and I have to get out there and do something!"

"Always in a rush, aren't you? Yes, I have noticed. What do you take me for? An invalid?"

The two incarnations of the Doctor were soon joined by the other occupants of the house. "Oh, this is awful! Team Plasma's attacking the daycare! But we don't have anything of value!" said Rosemary.

"Don't forget the Snivy eggs!" replied her husband.

"But how could they have found out about that?"

"I don't know, but the important thing now is to keep them from taking those eggs."

"Wait, hold on, does anyone here have Pokemon?" asked the Third Doctor, only to receive several eye-rolls from those present. "Okay, nevermind, stupid question." He turned to his future self. "You and Rory are coming with me. We need to keep those grunts from breaking into the house, and no one's more capable of that than me!" The Time Lord received groans from the others and a narrowing of eyes from his future self at his arrogant tone. He turned to Victor and Rosemary. "Stay in your room and don't come out until this is all over. The rest of you, guard the room where the Snivy eggs are kept. I believe it's that secure room in the basement." He received nods from the elderly couple confirming his assumption. The Third Doctor turned his back on the others and began to walk away, while the Eleventh Doctor followed with Rory, huffing in jealousy at the way his past self took charge of the situation.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Fields, January 6, 2011, 10:40 p.m.)_

Gazing at the approaching Plasma grunts and their Pokemon, the Eleventh Doctor smirked as Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott stood in front of him. "Alright, just stay back and watch. I'll take care of these grunts in no time flat."

The Third Doctor narrowed his eyes at the Eleventh Doctor. "Excuse me? Stay back and watch? I'm the Doctor, and just who do you think you are?"

"Well, I'm the..."

"It was a rhetorical question, you moron. A rhetorical question in the sense that you shouldn't be answering it."

The Eleventh Doctor wrinkled his face in exasperation. "I know what a rhetorical question is, you gangly fop!"

"Then a whippersnapper like you shouldn't be answering it, like I said."

The Eleventh Doctor's huffed. "I don't have time for this. Now just listen."

The Third Doctor clenched his fists. "No, _you LISTEN TO ME _**(9)**_!"_

"YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ME **(10)**!"

"NO, YOU ARE ME!"

"CLEARLY!" shouted the Eleventh Doctor.

The Third Doctor narrowed his eyes. "INDEED! AND IF YOU ARE MY FUTURE, I THINK IT'S LOOKING RATHER BLEAK RIGHT ABOUT NOW!"

"WAS I REALLY THIS OBNOXIOUS IN THE PAST? WELL, I'M GLAD I GOT OUT OF THAT PHASE!"

"IS THAT SO? CUT YOUR HAIR, WILL YOU? YOU LOOK LIKE A SISSY!"

"FINE THEN, BIG NOSE! NOW YOU SIT TIGHT AND..."

"SIT TIGHT? SIT TIGHT? WHO'S THE ONE WITH THE VENUSIAN AIKIDO SKILLS **(11)**?"

The Eleventh Doctor was not to be outdone. "WELL, WHO'S THE ONE WITH THE POKEMON AND SOME SEMBLANCE OF WHAT TO DO NOW?"

"CLEARLY, YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH CONTROL OVER THIS SITUATION!"

"WELL, I MUST SAY, YOU CERTAINLY DO NOT EITHER!"

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!"

"I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR! AND RIGHT NOW MY GUT IS TELLING ME..."

The Third Doctor rolled his eyes. "WHAT, THAT IT HAS A STOMACHACHE, YOU INSOLENT GIT?"

"NO! THAT YOU'RE A RASH, MOROSE FOOL, YOU FLAMBOYANT DANDY! AND FURTHERMORE, THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU JUST LISTENED TO ME AND..."

"OH, THERE YOU GO AGAIN, IT'S ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE'S FAULT, NEVER YOUR OWN! WELL, LET ME TELL YOU THIS, _DOCTOR_. I DON'T CARE!"

"EVIDENTLY, YOU DO, OR WE WON'T BE MAKING THIS HULLABALOO LIKE TWO GRUMPY OLD MEN!"

"IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, WE _ARE_ TWO GRUMPY OLD MEN!"

The Eleventh Doctor huffed. "YOU MORE SO THAN ME, DOCTOR!"

"YOU IN TERMS OF AGE, MATE!"

"OH YEAH? WELL, AT LEAST I'M NOT THE IDIOT THAT MESSES AROUND WITH GADGETS TO THE POINT THAT THEY COULD MAIM OR KILL ME!"

The Third Doctor glared at his future self. "WITHOUT ME, YOU WON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW THE GRASP THE TARDIS' MORE SUBTLE WORKINGS!"

"BECAUSE YOU KEPT TAKING THE OLD GIRL APART AND REASSEMBLING HER? PERSONALLY, I'M GLAD TO HAVE WEEDED OUT THAT _HORRIFYING_ TENDENCY! WHAT IF YOU TOOK HER APART AND COULDN'T PUT HER BACK TOGETHER, HUH?"

"NOW SEE HERE, BOY! YOU WERE THE IMBECILE WHO GOT THE TARDIS DAMAGED BY ZEKROM! AND YOU HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF FOR THAT BLUNDER!"

"OH, RUB IT IN, WHY DON'T YOU?"

"I FULLY INTEND TO, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A REPLACEMENT!" snapped the Third Doctor.

"YEAH?"

"YEAH!"

"AT LEAST I DIDN'T GET MYSELF EXILED TO EARTH BY THE TIME LORDS AND STUCK BEING UNIT'S LAPDOG!"

"TECHNICALLY, AS MY FUTURE SELF, YOU DID!"

The Eleventh Doctor crossed his arms. "AS YOUR FUTURE SELF, I CAN SAY THAT YOU ARE A PERIOD OF MY LIFE I'D RATHER CROSS OFF MY BIOGRAPHY!"

"NOW YOU'RE JUST BEING OBNOXIOUS!"

"I'M _GLAD_ SOMEONE HERE NOTICES! ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ADD? ANY INSULT? GO ON, I'M THE DOCTOR, ONE OF THE MOST HATED MEN IN THE GALAXY! I'VE HEARD THEM ALL!"

"WELL, I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE OF VITAL INTEREST TO YOU. THAT YOU, SIR, ARE A NITWIT **(12)**!"

While the Doctor's two incarnations were arguing, Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott shifted their heads back and forth to stare at the Time Lord who was currently speaking.

Tepig lowered his head, trying to nestle it between his front legs. "Te. Pig. Pig. Te. Tepig. Pig. Te. Te..." _"Oh boy, I think I'm going to get a headache from all this arguing..."_

Oshawott scratched his head. "Osha. Osha. Wott Oshawott? Wott. Osha. Osha?" _"They're both supposed to be the same person? How does that work?"_

Snivy sighed. "Sni? Sni. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Vy. Vy. Vy. Sni. Vy Vy!" _"Who cares? They're just being boneheads. Meanwhile, we have a problem here!"_

Rory and his Audino looked around the field nervously at the large amounts of Plasma grunts swarming the area. "Uh, Doctors?" The two Time Lords halted their argument to stare at the nurse. "We kinda have a crisis here. You're leaving Audino and your Pokemon to deal with this mess. And the others are still stuck inside. Meanwhile, someone entered the house!"

The Eleveth Doctor's face belied disbelief. "What? How?"

Rory sighed. "If you two weren't so obsessed with your shouting match, you would have noticed him sneaking right past you! The grunts are just a distraction!"

"Who was it?"

"That guy we saw at the Dreamyard who took Amy's Munna!"

**(Insert Music: I am the Doctor - Jon Pertwee)**

The Eleventh Doctor shrugged. "Well, _we'll_ just have to hold them off before we can help Amy."

The Third Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes, _we_ will, I suppose." Before his future self could react, the Time Lord ran at a Plasma grunt about to send out his Pokemon. The Third Doctor grasped the grunt's wrist tightly, causing him to howl in pain as he dropped the red and white sphere. With a swift movement, the Time Lord hooked his left foot around the Plasma grunt's right foot and pulled his foot sharply inwards, causing the grunt to trip and fall over onto his back with a yelp. The Time Lord knelt down, pressing his right knee onto the grunt's chest to prevent escape. He swiftly lifted his knee and kicked the grunt in the side with his left foot, sending him rolling into the legs of a few of his collagues who tried to come to his aid, rendering them a messy heap on the grass.

The Eleventh Doctor whistled in admiration of his past self as his Tepig dispatched a grunt's Trubbish with Flame Charge. "Hmmm... Not bad."

The Third Doctor turned around to notice a tan-colored, quadruped crocodilian creature with black stripes and a pink underside approaching him. It also had large black circular patterns around its eyes. The Sandile snarled as its back began to glow white, before howling when a few sharp gray stones rose from its back and shot towards the distracted Time Lord.

"The Eleventh Doctor crossed his arms. "Oshawott, you know what to do." The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded as he ran in the Third Doctor's direction and leapt in front of the space between the other Time Lord and the incoming attack. Detaching his scalchop from his chest, he swung it back and forth, using the appendage to deflect the stones out of harm's way. "And now, Razor Shell!" Oshawott elongated a pillar of water from his scalchop and somersaulted in the air before bringing the pillar down on the Sandile's back, knocking it aside.

The Third Doctor stared at his future self. "Doctor! Do you think you could manage a rescue _before_ the nick of time, eh **(13)**?"

The Eleventh Doctor rolled his eyes. "You're welcome, Doctor." He turned to his Snivy. "Snivy, use Vine Whip on that Patrat." The Grass Snake Pokemon extended two vines from her shoulders and shot them towards the described Pokemon. The Patrat shrieked in surprise as Snivy's vines wrapped themselves around its torso, before hoisting it several meters above the ground. Snivy reared her vines back and swung them forward, flinging the Patrat into the air. The Time Lord pointed in the direction of the airborne Scout Pokemon. "Tepig, Flame Charge!" Tepig engulfed himself in a cloak of fire and ran towards the Patrat in time to meet it on its descent towards the ground. The Fire Pig Pokemon slammed into the Scout Pokemon, knocking it into a number of other Plasma grunts' Pokemon.

The Third Doctor turned his attention back to the Plasma grunts. "Still have a good number more to deal with now, however."

"Yes, that would seem to be the case."

"And it would seem that you require my assistance, as it appears that I require yours."

"Indeed. Tepig, Ember!" The Fire Pig Pokemon shot a few fire bolts at the feet of several Plasma grunts approaching his Trainer's past self, keeping them at bay. The Third Doctor ran at another Plasma grunt, tackling him to the ground before unceremoniously picking him up and tossing him at a group of his collagues. The Plasma grunts groaned as the grunt thrown by the Third Doctor collided with their bodies. "Snivy, Leaf Tornado!"

Snivy smirked. "Vy. Sni. Vy. Sni. Sni. Sni." _"Time to make my ancestors proud!" _The Grass Snake Pokemon turned herself upside down and began to spin, creating a green-tinted tornado filled with leaves. She steered her attack into a few Pokemon, drawing them into the tornado before using the force of the winds to hurl them in various directions.

The Third Doctor ran toward another Plasma grunt and straightening his fingers, proceeded to jab her in the stomach. When she doubled over in pain, he intertwined his fingers and held his palms together, before bringing his hands down onto her back, knocking her unconscious. Turning around, the Time Lord delivered a roundhouse kick to a Sandile, sending it flying into the chest of another grunt, knocking him to the grass. A Patrat attempted to lunge at him, but his future self's Oshawott batted it away with its Razor Shell attack. Grabbing the wrist of a nearby Plasma grunt, the Third Doctor quickly curled the man's fingers into a fist, before repeatedly and mercilessly punching the man's face with his own fist.

The Eleventh Doctor had a sly smirk on his face as he turned to his past self. "Maybe you should tell that grunt to stop hitting himself. Now Tepig, Tackle." The Fire Pig Pokemon complied, using the attack to knock away a troublesome Trubbish. The Third Doctor returned the smirk as let go of the Plasma grunt's wrist and swiped his foot under the man's legs, tripping him up. As the grunt fell, the Time Lord delivered a final punch to his stomach, knocking him flat on his back. One of his collagues attempted to assist him by sneaking up on the Third Doctor, but he put an end to that plan by reaching behind himself with an outstretched fist and uppercutting the grunt without even turning around to face her. As she staggered backwards, the Third Doctor reached behind and grabbed the front of her uniform before moving his arm forward, using the momentum to throw her a few meters.

Snivy snarled as she faced an annoying Purrloin, but her eyes widened in surprise as the female grunt thrown by the Third Doctor landed on top of the Devious Pokemon, incapacitating it. The Grass Snake Pokemon frowned. "Sni. Vy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Vy! Sni. Snivy. Snivy Snivy. Sni! _"I was handling that Purrloin just fine! I don't need that old guy to intervene!"_

Oshawott stared at Snivy. "Wott. Wott. Wott. Osha. Oshawott. Osha." _"I guess even you need help sometimes."_

Snivy felt her cheeks turn red. "Vy. Vy." _"Oh, shut up."_

Oshawott smirked. "Wott. Wott." _"Make me."_ Snivy quickly shook her head and turned away from the Sea Otter Pokemon in a desperate bid to hide her blush, leaving Oshawott smirking. "Osha. Wott. Wott..." _"Yep, I'm good..."_

Oshawott was snapped out of thoughts as he heard Rory shout. "We did it! The grunts are routing!" The Sea Otter Pokemon sat down and breathed a sigh of relief.

The Eleventh Doctor stared at the house. "Yes, but now we have to make sure that the others are fine." With a nod, he ran towards the building, followed by his Pokemon, the Third Doctor, and Rory with his Audino.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Snivy Egg Room, January 6, 2011, 10:45 p.m.)_

Her Lillipup standing on alert in front of her, and with Skylar and Sophie behind her, Amy crossed her arms as she glared at Felix standing in the doorway, blocking his way to the shelves lining the far wall of the room. Each shelf had a door of glass and held a large number of Pokemon eggs, each egg resting on an individual pillow. All of the eggs were light green and had a three-pointed leaf design on their centers, identifying them as Snivy eggs. A good portion of the eggs also had a spot of white paint on the center of their leaf designs, showing that they were descendants of the White Prince's Serperior and Samurott. "Why do you even need these eggs?"

"If Team Plasma is to accomplish its goal of separating humans and Pokemon, what better way to do it then derive beginning Trainers of one of their starter Pokemon options! We've been searching for the breeding sites of Unova's starter Pokemon for years, and just discovered this one. Who would have known that all the Snivy sent to Professor Juniper for distribution were bred here in a daycare center, in plain sight! Heck, this daycare center started its trade because of those eggs behind you!"

"You've already took my Munna, I won't let you take these eggs!"

From his position at the egg room's doorframe, Felix let out a low chuckle. "Oh my, you said something like that at the Dreamyard, and look what happened."

"This time, things will be different."

"Oh, I do wonder about that. Like I wonder if they'll ever find the White Prince's claymore." Felix shrugged. "But no matter, you will fall one way or the other." The man pulled out a Pokeball and hurled it. "Time to battle, Sirknight!" Felix's Pokeball opened, revealing a Gallade. "Now Sirknight, Focus Blast!" The Gallade put his hands together, forming a light blue ball of energy between them before hurling it at Amy's Lillipup.

"Dodge it!" The Puppy Pokemon leapt over the approaching Focus Blast attack.

Felix smirked. "That would be rather ill-advised, if you ask me."

"What?"

Amy's eyes widened as she heard a loud crash and Skylar shout in alarm. "Amy! The eggs!" The woman turned around to see that Sirknight's attack had veered off and struck the right front leg of a shelf, smashing it off. The shelf began to wobble unsteadily on its three remaining legs.

Felix crossed his arms. "Focus Blast again, Sirknight!" The Gallade complied, sending his attack at the unsteady shelf's top right corner, smashing its glass door at the point of impact, and causing the egg behind that area to topple precariously. Amy wasted no time in dashing over to the shelf, pushing Sophie out of her way as the egg fell from its position towards the floor. Time seemed to slow down for Amy as she reached out with her arms, swiftly catching the falling egg before it could make a mess on the floor. She breathed a sigh of relief as she handed the egg to Skylar. The shelf continued to wobble.

Sophie tossed one of her Pokeballs. "Diver, hold that shelf up!" The Pokeball opened to reveal a bipedal light blue otter-like creature with black ears, feet, and tail, a pointed crest at the back of its head, a red nose shaped like a tilted oval, and long white whiskers forming tilted "V" shapes. Around its waist was a dark blue fringe adornment with two yellow scalchops, shaped liked seashells. The Dewott ran over to the side of the shelf missing its leg, and wrapped her arms around the shelf, holding it up and offering some stability.

Felix laughed. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You see, should your Pokemon dodge or otherwise avoid Sirknight's attacks, then they would simply hit the shelves and send all those precious eggs falling splat, splat, splat to the floor! And when they do, all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put them together again!"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Don't you want those eggs? Wouldn't do you much good if they were destroyed, eh?"

"While stealing the eggs is an option, our goal is to derive people of Pokemon! I didn't say how we plan on doing that, but if it means destroying eggs before they've hatched, so be it! Destroying these eggs won't do any beginning Trainers any good either! And for a bonus, that would wipe out a good chunk of the legacy left behind by two of the White Prince's Pokemon!"

"You're despicable." seethed Amy.

Felix beamed. "Thank you! And I would add charming to that assessment as well! Now Sirknight, Psycho Cut!" The Gallade's forearms glowed light blue as he charged at Amy's Lillipup. Sirknight swung his right arm down towards the Puppy Pokemon, intent on impaling him with it.

"Lillipup, dodge!" Lillipup leapt above the downward moving arm, successfully avoiding it as it slammed into the floor, creating a small crater. "Now Bite!" Fangs bared, Lillipup dove towards Sirknight, latching on to the Gallde's head crest with his mouth. Freeing his arm from the floor, Sirknight swung his head around wildly in a bid to dislodge Amy's Lillipup. "Use Work Up!" Lillipup glowed with a crimson aura as he increased the strength of his Bite attack. "Take Down!" Still biting the Blade Pokemon's head, Lillipup dove forward towards the floor, causing the Gallade to fall over onto his back from the added force.

"Sirknight, Focus Blast!" Sirknight raised his arms and began to charge his attack.

"Lillipup, Bite that Pokemon's arm!" As the Focus Blast attack was nearing completion, Lillipup bit down on Sirknight's right forearm, causing the attak to be lauched prematurely and away from the shelves. The attack veered off and struck the ceiling, showering a spray of drywall and plaster down on the room's occupants. Diver winched as the powdered drywall irritated her eyes, causing her hold on the shelf to falter. Two more eggs tumbled out of the shelf from the hole in its glass door. Arms outstretched, Amy rushed forward to the falling eggs. She sighed in relief as she caught one, but gasped in shock when the other dropped past her arms.

"Arf!" The woman looked towards the floor and smiled when she saw her Lillipup by her side, the other egg on his back. She took the egg from Lillipup and moved to hand them to Skylar.

Sophie hurled another Pokeball, sending out a Pidgeotto. "Rustle, help Diver hold the shelf up!" The Pidgeotto did as he was told, leaning his body against the shelf to push it onto the wall.

Before Amy could hand the eggs over to Skylar, Felix shouted out an order to Sirknight, who by this time had managed to get to his feet. With a sadistic smirk, he pointed at Amy's back. "Focus Blast!" The Gallade charged up a sphere of light blue energy and fired it directly at the woman, who quickly squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting the inevitable impact. Instead, she heard a yelp and a small body slam into her back.

Staggering forwards, Amy set the eggs on the floor and turned around to see her Lillipup lying on the floor with scrapes all over his body from taking the hit of the Focus Blast attack, and accidently hitting his Trainer in the back when the force of the attack propelled him forward. "Psycho Cut!" Arms glowing light blue, Sirknight rushed at Lilllipup, and began slashing away at the Puppy Pokemon's little body. The battered Lillipup attempted to roll away from the Blade Pokemon's arms, but the Gallade would reach over and drag him back into the attack. Groaning in pain, Lillipup crawled forward, but Sirknight grabbed him by his tail and picked him up before slamming his body into the hard tile floor.

Amy felt her eyes begin to water at the sight of her Pokemon being battered. "LILLIPUP!" The Puppy Pokemon's eyes snapped open as he began to glow blue. Shielding his eyes from the light, Sirknight began to stagger away backwards from Lillipup. The Puppy Pokemon began to grow larger until the glow finally stopped. In Lillipup's place was an orange dog-like creature with cream-colored fur on its face, some of it forming a mustache and head crest. Across its back and tail was a shaggy dark blue pelt.

Skylar's eyes widened. "Amy, your Lillipup evolved into a Herdier!"

The woman simply walked over to her Pokemon. "You okay, Herdier?" The Loyal Dog Pokemon responded by licking his Trainer's face. "Alright, use Tackle!" Herdier complied, charging at Sirknight and knocking him to the ground. "Bite!"

Felix narrowed his eyes. "Psycho Cut!" Before Herdier could use his Bite attack on Sirknight, the Gallade swung his glowing arm and knocked the Loyal Dog Pokemon off his body. Herdier grunted as he was sent slamming into a wall.

"HERDIER!"

"Oshawott, Water Gun!" A forceful stream of water slammed into Sirknight's back, forcing the Blade Pokemon and his Trainer to turn around, catching sight of Rory and the Doctor's two incarnations at the door. The Eleventh Doctor's three Pokemon glared at him. "Tepig, Ember! Snivy, Vine Whip!" Before Sirknight could react, a stream of fire bolts and two vines shot over and smacked his body repeatedly.

Felix narrowed his eyes, noticing that he was cornered on all sides. "Urgh, I don't have time for this. Sirknight, Teleport." Before everyone's eyes, Felix and his Gallade disappeared from the room.

"Oh, so he's running now? The bloody coward." remarked the Third Doctor. "At least the eggs were undamaged."

The Eleventh Doctor stared at Herdier. "Did Lillipup evolve?" Amy nodded. "Congratulations, Pond. But awww..., he evolved before any of my Pokemon did!" whined the Time Lord, elicting laughter from those present in the room as Rory's Audino went off to treat Herdier.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, Sunset Daycare Center, Fields, January 7, 2011, 8:45 a.m.)_

"Well, we certainly must thank you for protecting the daycare center from Team Plasma's attack. And especially you, Amy, for stooping that awful man from harming any of the eggs. We are truly indebted to you."

Amy looked bashful. "I did what I had to."

"Say, we heard about your Munna and thought it was just horrible that the same man stole it from you. So here's our thanks to you." Rosemary alked into the house and quickly returned with an egg in an egg case.

Amy was stunned. "Is that?"

"Why yes, it's the egg you returned to us yesterday. Take it as your reward."

The woman bowed graciously as she took the egg case. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble at all. Our pleasure."

Victor turned to the Third Doctor. "Thank you for your improvements to our appliances, Doctor. They will certainly make life more interesting around the house from now on. Though I'm stil at a loss as to what to do wth some of the added features you installed."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a use for them somewhere." replied the Third Doctor. "I must thank you for your hospitality."

Saying their farewells, the group walked away from the farm as the elderly couple waved after them.

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, January 7, 2011, 9:45 a.m.)_

The group walked on for an hour before the Third Doctor stopped and stared at some trees growing along the path. "Well, this is where we part ways, Doctor. I take back what I said earlier. If you are my future, then I certainly look forward to it."

"And I must take back what I said too. I enjoyed being you, more so than I might think sometimes. And look." The Eleventh Doctor tugged at his bow tie. "The bow tie's back. Bow ties are cool. Got that from you, and the jolly clown who came before you."

The Third Doctor smiled and gave his future self a slight bow. "Here's to my future."

The Eleventh Doctor beamed at his past self. "And may I never forget my past."

"My TARDIS is parked just in that growth of trees over there. Good luck in taking care of Zekrom and stopping its threat. I believe the matter is now in capable hands."

"You flatter me, Doctor."

"Yes, I seem to have that effect on people, don't I? Farewell!" The Third Doctor turned around and walked into the tree growth, the group waving at his retreating back. A few seconds later, a distinctive whooshing noise was heard from the trees.

"What was that?" asked Sophie.

"The departure of someone I know all too well." replied the Doctor with a smile.

"By the way, was that man supposed to be you? He sure acted like it."

"It's a long story."

"Well, he's different in many ways, yet the same as you." remarked Amy.

The Doctor shrugged. "That's shouldn't come as a surprise."

"Hmmm... I think I prefer him, he's much more polite."

The Doctor pouted. "Oi! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it does. I don't see why you should get so cross about it, he is you after all."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Upstarted by my past self. _Brilliant_."

"What's a TARDIS?" asked Skylar.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Er. I believe we should be moving now. Depending on how fast we are, might have to spend a day camping on the route, or we could get to Nacrene City before nightfall. It all depends on our pace." The Time Lord pouted.

"Uh Doctor? What's wrong?"

The Time Lord continued to pout. "Rory had an egg, and now Amy has an egg. Why don't I get an egg?"

Arms wrapped around her egg case, Amy rolled her eyes at the Doctor. "You already have three Pokemon, Doctor. And before you say anything, I only have two at the moment, since Munna was taken."

"Wow, you that comfortable talking about it now, Pond?"

"I can't hide from the facts, can I? It's either that or wallowing in my own self-pity."

"And you're not the sort of person to do that. Bravo. Now shall we be off?" Amy nodded as the Time Lord ran to the head of the group.

Trailing behind Skylar and Sophie, Amy looked sadly down at her egg case in her arms before letting out a quiet sigh. _"I know it's another Pokemon for me, but it isn't Munna. Still, this egg needs a Trainer. I'll be there for it, I suppose..."_

* * *

Author notes: Well, that was quite the long chapter, and the first time I'm attempting a multi-Doctor chapter too. Doctor Who has special episodes where previous actors who played the Doctor return briefly to guest star alongside the incumbent. It's rather interesting to see the friction from all those different personalities of what is essentially the same person bumping off each other. I plan on having the other nine past incarnations of the Doctor appear in the story at some point or another, depending on whether or not anyone wants to read that. For the Third Doctor, this chapter takes place after the serial "The Three Doctors". Anyway, being a long chapter, it may have quite a number of mistakes, so anyone pointing that out is much appreciated. The insert music refers to a piece of music you can play as you read the scene to add to the experience. There will be a few of such scenes throughout the story. If anyone would like to suggest pieces of music that could fit with scenes in previous chapters, do let me know. Here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) Out of genuine concern for her safety, the Doctor has repeatedly told Amy to stay in the TARDIS while he went off to check the surroundings. She rarely obeys him.

(2) This is a line spoken by the Doctor in the video game "Evacuation Earth" when Amy questioned why he neede a screwdriver to "fix" his sonic screwdriver.

(3) For breaking the Time Lord's law of non-interference, the Doctor's second incarnation was executed, had his memories wiped, and then exiled to Earth with the TARDIS disabled. The exile was lifted and the Doctor's memories restored in the serial "The Three Doctors", when his third incarnation stopped the rogue Time Lord Omega with help from his two past lives. His TARDIS was also repaired as well.

(4) UNIT or Unified Intelligence Taskforce is a military organisation which operates under the auspices of the United Nations. Its purpose was to investigate and combat paranormal and extraterrestrial threats to the Earth. The Doctor's third incarnation spent a good portion of his life working as UNIT's scientific advisor, and his later incarnations also aided the organization on an occasional basis.

(5) The Doctor's third incarnation has a deep interest in gadgets, and could frequently be seen trying to improve them in unusual ways.

(6) The Laws of Time regulated Time Lords' use of their power to travel in time. Specifically, the First Law of Time specifically prohibited a Time Lord from meeting his previous incarnations. Despite this, the Doctor has on numerous occasions did just that — either accidentally or through Time Lord sanction.

(7) The Atraxi are an alien race of intergallactic police officers. In the episode "The Eleventh Hour", when confronted by the Doctor about their attempted destruction of Earth to arrest a prisoner, they screened a projection of the Doctor's past incarnations to see who had been defending the Earth in the past. This was witnessed by Rory and Amy.

(8) This exchange is a reference to one between the Doctor's third incarnation and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the serial "The Three Doctors". What the Brigadier wanted to know however, what what the Doctor could do about a current crisis.

(9) This is an often quoted statement of the Doctor's third incarnation, spoken by his whenever he's impatient with authority figures or anyone trying to tell him what to do, which happens often, given his own authoritative personality.

(10) Like his third incarnation, the Doctor's eleventh incarnation hates being bossed around.

(11) The Doctor's third incarnation is highly physical, and revealed expertise in several forms of martial arts.

(12) In a fit of irritation, the Doctor's third incarnation spoke this line to a professor in the serial "Inferno".

(13) This is a reference to a line spoken by the Doctor's third incarnation in the serial "The Mind of Evil", when he is rescued by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from being shot by a villain's henchman.

OCs are still being accepted. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**Dedicated to the memory of Jon Pertwee (1919-1996).**

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**


	20. Facing Temptation Personified!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's is owned by Kazuki Takahashi.**

* * *

_"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look f__ear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." _- Eleanor Roosevelt

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 20: Facing Temptation Personified!**

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, January 7, 2011, 7:30 p.m.)_

Sophie sighed as she continued her pace near the back of the group. While she did think that travelling to Nacrene City provided her with a fine change of pace, it was one she had issues adjusting to. Many of her fellows criticized her laziness, and frankly, it was not one of those traits she was particularly proud of. But every person had his or her flaws after all. In contrast to herself, the Doctor appeared to be a rather active person, deviating from his tangent and breaking off into a run at times just so he could lay eyes on some small Pokemon that scurried away when it saw him. Fascinated by a great many things he saw, loath as she was to admit it, he did have the makings of a great researcher, even if he possessed the attention span of a Minccino. Figuring that the lack of conversation would drive her up the wall eventually, Sophie opened her mouth to speak. "Has anyone heard of one of the great mysteries about the princes?"

Sophie's question was punctuated by the figure at the head of the group halting his pace. "Mystery? What mystery?"

Sophie grinned at the sight of the Doctor. It appeared that just about anything could peak his interest. "The one where the two princes simply vanished."

The Doctor cupped his chin for a few brief seconds before clicking his fingers. "Oh, _that_ mystery."

"What happened? How did they just vanish?" asked Rory.

"Well, no one ever found their remains when their dragon split in two."

Sophie scratched her head briefly. "I think you and I are confusing things, Doctor. This was way before they died, before the creation of Zekrom and Reshi-" Before she could finish her sentence, Sophie was silenced as the Doctor reached into a pocket of his tweed jacket and pulled out a neon-yellow water pistol, aiming the toy weapon at her face. Pulling the trigger, he shot a stream of water which met its intented target with speedy precision. Spluttering water from her mouth, Sophie hastily grabbed a fistful of her black turtleneck and began to wipe her face dry, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the liquid.

Needless to say, the Time Lord's action stunned the rest of the group. "Doctor! What did you do that for?" exclaimed Amy.

The Doctor twirled the toy in his hand. "Oh, I just happened to find this in my pockets. Haven't used it in a while **(1)**, years actually, and I was wondering if it still worked."

Skylar frowned at the Time Lord. "If it didn't work, you wouldn't have filled it with water to begin with."

"I forgot that it was loaded." deadpanned the Doctor.

"You're telling me that the water has been in the gun for years?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"Even so, why did you have to test it while Sophie was talking?"

Amy sighed. "That was rather rude, Doctor. Then again, why am I not surprised?"

The Doctor shrugged. "You shouldn't be, Pond. Anyway, a mystery. I love a good mystery, don't you? Now then, disappearance of the princes, before they died. Now that was a mystery."

"I know this one." replied Skylar. "I think the Black Prince just suddenly vanished from the royal palace one morning with his Pokemon, and no one could find him."

Sophie finshed wiping her face dry before shooting the Doctor a dirty look, which went unnoticed by him, as he was occupied with examining the water pistol. He stared down its barrel, and pulled the trigger, spraying his own face with water, which prompted him to let out a gleeful chuckle as he pocketed the toy. The rest of the group rolled their eyes at him as Sophie continued. "Yeah, and then the White Prince disappeared later that day as well with his own Pokemon."

The Doctor closed his eyes as he allowed a mental image to sweep across his memory.

_In the corridor of a castle, a young woman wearing a gray long-sleeved dress with a white apron, black flats, and a black headband held a broom as she went about one of her designated chores in cleaning up the filth that littered the floor. She had long dark red hair, a porcelain complexion, and soft pink eyes. Before she could finish up her task and retire for the rest of the day, she was briefly surprised as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her neck, almost causing her to drop the broom. Slightly on edge, she tilted her head back to see a well-built man in silver armor, a sheathed sword at his left side. He had medium length spiky black hair, blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin, forming a visage that made her instantly relax in his embrace. She reached up to cup the man's left cheek, blushing as he turned and laid a kiss on her palm. "Allen, how did you get here without your armor making a noise?"_

_Allen chuckled as he released the woman. "A knight has to always be prepared, Kayla. The White Prince told me that. Almost done?"_

_"Yeah. Just a little bit more, that's all."_

_"Good. Speaking of the White Prince, I just had a battle with him."_

_"Did you win?"_

_Allen stiffened but quickly regained his composure. "Of course."_

_Setting down her broom, Kayla rolled her eyes, pinching her lover's cheeks gently. "You liar."_

_"I am not lying!"_

_"You expect me to believe that you defeated the White Prince? THE White Prince of Unova?"_

_"That is correct."_

_"Oh come on..."_

_The couple was soon interrupted by a voice speaking behind them. __"Ah! Allen, Kayla, good to see you." They spun around to see a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair, accompanied by an Emboar. "Nice battle by the way, Allen. You had Emboar here on edge until he managed to pull through. I eagerly await our next battle." Upon hearing the blonde man's words, Kayla frowned at her husband. The blonde haired man blinked for a few seconds before sporting a sly smile. "Did you tell her that you won, by any chance?" Allen gulped, which was enough to convince the blonde haired man, who, to the couple's surprise, burst out into laughter. __"Trying to show off for the wife, hmmm? I do not blame you, but do try to keep to the truth, eh? Better than the ideals that my stuck up brother believes in..." The blonde haired man cut himself off briefly to scratch his head. Speaking of my brother, __have either of you seen him or his Pokemon today?"_

_"No, sir." replied Allen._

_"Eh? Well, where in the name of Gallifrey could he have gone?"_

_"We do not know, sir. No one has seen him at all this morning."_

_"Fine. Where is the dragon?"_

_Kayla spoke up. "It disappeared with him, sir. And__ you know what else? That cabinet in the basement, the one you told all of the servants to never, ever touch?"_

_The blonde haired man raised an eyebrow, a gesture to which his Emboar followed suit. "Yes?"_

_"It disappeared."_

_The blonde haired man's eyes widened. "WHAT?"_

_"It just vanished into thin air!" Upon hearing those words, t__he blonde haired man spun around with a snarl and punched the wall, letting out a few savage pants. "Are you okay, sir?"_

_"Fine, just fine. If you two will excuse me, I have something important to attend to." Without giving Allen and Kayla a chance to respond, the blonde haired man turned his back on them and walked down the corridor the same way he came, followed by his Emboar. Seconds later, the couple winced as the sound of a slamming door reverberated throughout the chamber._

The Doctor found himself brought out of his thoughts as Sophie continued. "The White Prince was looking for his brother, and then he went into his room. After a short while, people outside heard gale force winds blowing within the chamber, and went in to check on him. When they entered, the room was totally torn apart, with furniture toppled over and lying askew. Most strangely, the White Prince and his own Pokemon were nowhere to be found."

"So what happened after that?" asked Amy.

"A month later, both princes and their Pokemon suddenly reappeared at the palace, and wouldn't tell anyone where they had gone. But, the White Prince appeared to have disciplined his younger brother for _something_." The Time Lord closed his eyes again, finding that another buried mental image was surfacing.

_Striding down a corridor, and with his left hand, the man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties held another person by the scuff on the back of his neck, and proceeded to drag him down the passageway. The other person shared the blonde haired man's appearence, the only difference being that his hair was dark. The blonde haired man scowled as he walked, casting occasional glances at the dark haired man he was dragging. "You and I are going to have a nice, long chat about what is and is not appropriate usage of the rental TARDIS! And taking it out on a long, random joyride is not one of them! Neither is siphoning off its artron energy to make your own Pokemon! Or using it to go somewhere in the past to bring a Genesect here! Consider yourself lucky that I have not contacted the..." Cutting himself off, the blonde haired man stopped as he noticed the woman in the corridor. "Oh, hello Kayla."_

_Kayla's face bore a stunned expression as she faced the blonde haired man. "My prince! Where did you go? Everyone was so worried about you!"_

_The blonde haired man raised his right hand for silence. "That would not be important right now. I suppose I would have to tell everyone that we did not vanish off the face of the world. Anyway, good to see you, Kayla." He cast a glance at the dark haired man, who had remained silent. "I am still not done with you yet." Without another word, the blonde haired man continued to walk down the corridor, with both men disappearing behind a corner._

_Kayla scratched her head as she stared at the path which the two men disappeared down. "I wonder what a TARDIS is?"_

The Doctor shook the image out of his head upon hearing a comment from Amy. "So they just up and disappeared, and then reappeared as if nothing had happened?"

Sophie nodded. "Yes."

"Well, that's weird."

"It was. To this day, no one knows where they went." said Skylar.

The Doctor shrugged. "There's a good mystery for you. Anyway, looks like it's getting dark. Blimey, travelling to Nacrene is taking longer than I thought."

"Only because you kept insisting on observing every Pokemon you saw in-depth."

"You're a researcher, Skylar. That's what researchers do."

"You're a famous one, Doctor. Haven't you already seen those Pokemon countless times already?"

"But Pokemon are fascinating creatures. Seeing them over and over again never gets old. Ah well, I suppose it's time to make camp now."

* * *

_(Unova Route 3, January 6, 2011, 9:30 p.m.)_

Rory put down his plate as he stared at the Doctor's back. "So Skylar and Sophie have turned in already?"

"Yep, early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy, and wise." replied the Time Lord. The Doctor turned to face Rory, a sheet of paper in hand. "Though I suspect Sophie's sleeping early just to be lazy. I might have to do something about that."

Amy huffed. "You think you can simply fix these things, Doctor?"

The Time Lord scratched his head. "Why not? I'm the Doctor."

The Scottish woman rolled her eyes, glancing at a nearby tent. "Speaking of Skylar and Sophie, they got their tent up quickly. What's taking so long with the instructions, Doctor? Are they in Gallifreyan or something?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth as he continued to stare at the paper in his hands. "Oi! For your information, Pond, the tent was bought at Henrik's **(2)**!"

"How long ago?"

"Six years ago, shortly before the shop was destroyed by Autons, and I met..." The Doctor sighed. "Oh nevermind."

"So that was the reason that shop blew up."

"Yes. Anyway, no, the instructions are in pictorial form. Blimey, they say a picture tells a thousand words, but you'd think they packed the wrong ones with the tent..."

Looking over the Doctor's shoulder at the piece of paper he was holding, Amy huffed and swiped it from his hands, before flipping it over and returning it with a mutter. "You had the instructions upside down, Doctor." Rory let out a sigh when he heard what mistake the Doctor had made.

The Time Lord did a double-take before he stared at the instructions again, clicking his fingers in enlightment. "Hey, guess what everyone? I had the instructions upside down! Who would've guessed?"

"Have you used this tent before, Doctor?" asked Rory.

"No." deadpanned the Time Lord.

"And you've never bothered to use it until now?"

"Well, I haven't had to. But now that you mention it, I really should go camping more often. What's more exciting than falling asleep while gazing at the stars in the night sky? If it doesn't rain, that is. In fact, why am I setting up the tent? There's no forecast of rain, and the night is crystal clear. It just dilutes our view of the stars. Roll out your sleeping bags, you two."

Amy turned to her husband with a sigh as they complied with the Doctor's request. "Took him that long to realize that..."

"Besides, drifting off to sleep with nothing between you and the stars, that's just... How can I describe it? Magical. Who knows? You might even see something exciting."

"Define 'exciting'."

"Well, something that thrills you, makes you wish that it'll never end. Now, that's exciting."

"You seem to have very low expectations for 'exciting', Doctor. One of them being that thing around your neck."

The Time Lord huffed. "_Shut up_, Pond. Bow ties are cool."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

"Alright, quit teasing the Doctor, Amy." muttered Rory as he slipped into his sleeping bag.

Staring at the egg case placed next to her own sleeping bag, Amy's gaze lingered on the object as she let out a sigh, earning the attention of her husband. "You've been staring at your egg case for several minutes now. Can't sleep?"

Amy sighed. "I'm still reeling from the facts, I suppose. I mean, I caught a Munna, then it was stolen, and then yesterday, I was given an egg. A new Pokemon."

"Takes a while for it to sink in, eh?"

"I don't know if it has fully sunken in yet."

"Still on your mind?"

"Yeah, I might wind up thinking about it for a while."

"Leading to the sleepless night."

"Sigh, the sleepless night indeed."

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to, Rory?"

The nurse smirked. "You'll see." Pulling himself into a sitting position, he called out to the Doctor, who had his back turned to them. "Hey Doctor!"

The Time Lord deviated from his self-appointed role of putting out the campfire and strode over to meet Rory. "What?"

"Tell Amy a bedtime story."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "A bedtime story?"

"Well, she can't sleep."

"Oh, in that case, I know a perfect one."

Amy huffed. "A bedtime story? What do I look like? Seven?"

"What, you don't want your imaginary friend telling you a story? I thought you wanted to hear about my exploits when you were a kid."

"I grew up." stated Amy in a matter-of-fact tone.

The Doctor chuckled. "After what we've been through, do you honestly expect me to believe that excuse?" He cupped his chin in contemplation. "Let's see now. Where should I start?"

"'Once upon a time' would be nice." suggested Rory, prompting the Doctor to chuckle.

"That would be a good place to start, yes."

Amy huffed. "Seriously now? I really don't need a bedtime story."

"Oh, but I think you do." replied the Doctor. "Now then, bedtime story, bedtime story..." He clicked his fingers, finally thinking of an appropriate tale. "Ah! This one's from Earth itself. A legend passed down through the ages. And the best part is, not many people know about it, and that includes you two. All the better for me to tell it." The Time Lord cleared his throat as he began to speak. "A long, long, long, long, long time ago, 10,000 years to be exact, in the scorching hot Nazca desert of Peru where several villages lay, there was once a savage creature known as 'Red Nova', also refered to as 'The Crimson Devil'."

"Sounds exotic."

The Time Lord beamed. "I knew you'd want to hear a bedtime story. Why, I seemed to have gotten you hooked."

"No promises."

The Doctor shrugged. "Fair enough. Possessing the tremendous form of a red ogre with many snakes protruding from his frame, and towering just over 200", the Crimson Devil struck fear right into the hearts of many who laid eyes upon him. He wrought devastation to the many villages of the desert, slaughtering most of the inhabitants and subjugating those it spared to his rule."

Amy scoffed. "Sounds like one of those fairy tales. Dragon ravages the countryside and some knight has to come slay it."

"Let the Doctor finish, Amy." muttered Rory.

"Oh, I fully intend to. The Crimson Devil was at the head of the charge of several evil entities who sought the extinction of humanity. They were behind all the evil in the world, all the anguish, all the selfishness, all the jealously, all the envy, all the lust, all the avarice, all the discord and hate. They tempted the minds of many weak-willed individuals and prompted those poor, piteous soul to commit atrocities in their names."

"Now there's an army of evil..." said Amy.

"Yes Pond, an army of evil. This was not an army of men and horses, but one of malicious fiends known as the Immortals, for their seemingly endless lifespans. _This_ was the Army of Shadows, and they maintained an iron grip on the villages of Nazca for several years thorough their willful temptation of man and their acts of destruction."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "Army of Shadows?"

"Uh huh. All of them black, all of them gigantic, and all of them made from the evil in peoples' hearts, making them embodiments of despair. You could say that to look at one was to stare fear itself straight in the face. There was the red spider, _Uru_, with his large piercing eyes, and massive legs which crushed anything that they stepped on. The orange hummingbird, _Aslla piscu_, who terrorized the skies with gales caused by the flapping of her wings. _Cusillu_ the yellow monkey qwelled all attempted rebellion with a swipe of his giant tail, like a whip. Particularly vicious was _Ccarayhua_ the greeen lizard, who devoured anyone who had the misfortune of crossing paths with her if she felt like it. People ran from the blue giant, _Ccapac Apu_, whose movements tremored the earth and demolished buildings with ease. From the seas of despair emerged _Chacu Challhua_, the indigo whale, whose levianthan shape casted a shadow many miles long across the landscape. Finally, the violet condor, _Wiraqocha Rasca_, gazed over the land, and need not lift a wing to do anything, for his sheer presence alone was enough to cause people to flee in absolute terror.

"How do you even pronounce half of those names, Doctor?"

"When you travel, you pick up things, Rory."

Amy scoffed. "An 'army' of eight. _What a force..._"

"Don't laugh, Pond. This 'army' _was_ a force. A force to be reckoned with, that is. There was one thing they counted on to intensify their threat."

"What was that?"

"The human element. You add it to the equation, and the whole dynamic of a situation can change drastically. In the hands of evil, it could bring about overwhelming despair and hopelessness. In the hands of good, it can bring about miracles. For their human element, the Immortals found a man whose soul was highly tainted with evil and imbued him with large sums of their power, using him as their messenger. He became known as the Legendary Dark Signer, their human presence, able to summon any of them to do his bidding in extorting and destroying settlements."

"There has to be a happy ending somewhere, right?" asked Rory.

"Getting ahead of ourselves, are we? As much as I like to hear one all the time, not all stories have happy endings, Rory." replied the Doctor.

"Well, Nazca isn't still ablaze and in ruins in the present, is it? _Something has to have happened_ between then and now."

"And you would be right. Something _did_ happen. Something big."

"What?"

"Hold your horses, I'm getting there. I may be in a rush sometimes, but I haven't seen anyone this eager in a while."

Rory shrugged. "You're stalling."

"Dramatic pause. Anyway, there was a dragon. A big dragon. A big red dragon. A big red dragon that descended from the stars. And it was called the Crimson Dragon. Stretching for miles and miles and miles on end, his body appeared to be sculpted from the flames themselves, constantly twisting and dancing like sparks of radiance."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Ah, now there's a dragon. One that needs slaying?"

The Doctor appeared to be highly offended. "One that slays, Pond. The Crimson Dragon appeared to the people of Nazca when they believed all hope to be lost against the Immortals. He was a marvelous creature that lived in the skies, and the embodiment of the Dragon Star, one of the brightest and most intense stars out there."

"Okay, a star that becomes a dragon? Who comes up with this stuff?"

"No one has to, Pond. I'm telling you, that it actually happened."

"You sure you didn't make it up?"

"When you've seen what I've seen, why do you need to make anything up? You tell people about your travels, and they seem naturally inclined to think you're on some sort of hallucinogenic drug. Anyway, back to the bedtime story..."

"...which I don't need."

"Oh, we'll see about that. Now then, where was I?" The Time Lord clicked his fingers. "Ah yes, the Dragon Star. To prove to the two of you that it's real, take a look up in the sky, right now." The couple did as the Time Lord instructed, but frowned when they noticed that the stars were all indistinguishable from one another.

Amy scoffed. "Oh come on, Doctor. If it exists, where is it? Wordlessly, the Time Lord stood up and walked a few steps away from the couple. His back turned to them, he crossed his right arm across his chest, resting his hand against his left pectoral muscle, where the image of a red dragon appeared on his chest under the hand. The dragon possessed a sepentine body, which was curled into a near-circle, the elongated jaws of its large head nearly touching the end of its intricately detailed tail. Sprouting from its mid-back was a pair of massive wings, positioned over its body. Midway between its head and wings was its hand, in which the dragon clutched an object that was shaped vaguely like a heart. An equally sized foot was positioned on the dragon's body midway between its wings and tail. The Doctor tilted his head upwards to face the sky, his eyes glowing crimson-red. Removing his left hand from his chest, he raised it to the sky, holding it in position for a few seconds, before he lowered it, his eyes returning to normal and the image of the dragon disappearing from his chest. Turning to face the couple, the Doctor walked back to them.

The Time Lord knelt down in front of Amy's sleeping bag, pointing at a star with a crimson-red hue. "There it is, right there. _That_ is the Dragon Star."

The couple's gaze followed the Doctor's finger, and their eyes widened as they caught sight of the star. "T-That r-red s-s-star w-wasn't there before... And i-if i-it w-was, it wasn't r-r-red b-before..." muttered Rory.

"Alright, what did you do, Doctor? Trick us?"

"Trick you? Why would I do that? I thought you knew me better than that, Pond."

"Rory just said that star wasn't there before. What did you do?"

"Well, I certainly didn't trick you. Let's just say I have my ways and leave it at that, okay? Now then, that star is really the Crimson Dragon, when he's up in the sky, and well, not needed at the moment. I'm sure there was a better way to phase that. Anyway, the Crimson Dragon came down to Earth in response to the distress of the people terrorized by Earthbound Immortals. But he didn't come alone, oh no. He created six lesser dragons as his servants. _Stardust Dragon_ glimmered with the brilliance of the deep unknown that is the cosmos, as he swept through the atmosphere, fast as a shooting star, bringing hope and salvation to all those who despaired. The ferocity of an erupting volcano burned within _Red Dragon Archfiend_, as sheer power and force was packed into his core, with which he could scorch his foes when it was all unleashed. A closed bud waiting to emerge into full bloom, _Black Rose Dragon_ hid her destructiveness behind her beautiful facade, lashing out with her razor sharp thorns if evil stepped too close to her. Her form shaped from dreams, the radiant and mystical _Ancient Fairy Dragon_ ruled over a realm of fantasy, one of fairies and spirits, where few people can be said to lay eyes upon, let alone visit. _Black-Winged Dragon_ cast a shadow wherever he went, but that was how he shined, for his white feathers glowed scarlet-red whenever he took all the pain and suffering of others for himself. The very representation of the Crimson Dragon's heart, _Life Stream Dragon_ brimmed with untapped potential, he was ambitious yet vulnerable, and had to be frequently sheltered in armor, becoming known as _Power Tool Dragon_. This was the army that opposed the Army of Shadows. _This_ was the Army of Light."

"An army of seven dragons. Lemme guess, _another_ force to be reckoned with?"

"Yep."

"Did they choose a human ally too?"

"Getting ahead of ourselves, are we, Pond? The Army of Light and Army of Shadows fought each other in various engagements all across the Nazca desert. The battles were long and spectular, but..."

"The Army of Light won out in the end?" asked Rory. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the nurse. "What? In my defense, if your story is true, Nazca isn't a burning hellhole now."

The Time Lord chuckled in mild amusement. "Alright, you got me there, Rory. Slowly but surely, the Army of Light whittled away at the Army of Shadows, but it wasn't without aid. To counter the Legendary Dark Signer, the Crimson Dragon chose a human whom he deemed to be pure-hearted and just. This human was marked with the Crimson Dragon's seal on his left chest, a mark called the Mark of the Dragon, and he became known as the Legendary Signer. Remember what I said about the human element?"

Rory nodded. "A single person can either bring about meaningless despair or glorious salvation..."

"That's right. Good to know you've been paying attention. Anyway, under the guidance of their guardian, the Legendary Signer, one by one, the dragons brought the Immortals to their knees. Through a process orchestrated by the Crimson Dragon, each one was consumed by the earth where they fell and sealed underground, leaving an imprint in their images on the surface. These images on the sand were later known as the Nazca lines."

"That's how the Nazca lines came about?"

"Why yes. What, did your geography teacher tell you that the ancient Nazca people created them so their gods have something nice to look at?"

"Not just her, saw it in a history book too, and the Internet."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Well, who would you rather believe? Your geography teacher..." With a smug expression etched onto his face, the Time Lord paused briefly to point a finger at himself. "...or me?"

Rory looked unsure. "My geography teacher was a nice lady... But were you there, Doctor?"

"If I wasn't, how can I be telling you this story, which by the way, actually happened. If it didn't, there goes my reputation, which by the way, keeps fluctuating. Whether it's high or low now, I can't be sure, however."

"I dunno, heard it from another Time Lord?"

"You know I'm the sort who wants to see things for myself."

"Point taken."

"Now, the Immortals were all sealed underground until Red Nova was the only one left standing, backed by the Legendary Dark Signer. Rather than accept assistance from his servants, the Crimson Dragon chose to deal with him personally. It was an intense fight that lasted for days on end, and drove the Crimson Dragon to near-exhaustion. Now that's a feat few creatures can be said to ever accomplish. And just when all seemed to be lost..." The Time Lord's voice trailed off into silence.

"What happened next?" asked Amy.

The Doctor let out a chuckle. "Why, I though you didn't _need_ a bedtime story, Amy. And now you want to know what heppened next?"

"Oh, shut up. Are you going to continue or not?"

"You're eager, like Rory is."

"And it seems that you're stalling again."

"I'm not stalling. I'm merely allowing for a dramatic pause."

"You just keep telling yourself that, Doctor."

"Alright. When all seemed to be lost, the Legendary Signer emerged from the fires of a volcano, the Mark of the Dragon on his chest glowing a blinding red. Unbeknownst to the Army of Shadows, the Crimson Dragon had gifted his warrior with a special ability. Blazing Soul."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Catchy name..."

"Well, I'll admit that it wasn't very original in today's context, but remember, this was 10,000 years ago. The mention of that ability back then inspired courage in people, and fear in fiends." The Doctor let out a short sigh. "Now barely anyone knows that it exists..."

"Some people know of it?"

"The descendents of the ancient Nazca people keep the legend fresh in their memory, albeit secret from much of the world. Who would believe that the Nazca lines are the locations where otherworldly fiends dwelled? Who would believe that actual flesh and blood dragons put them there? The great tragedy is that some people just can't see and comprehend the truth, even when you lay it right in front of their eyes."

Rory perked up. "So what happened?"

"The human element for the Crimson Dragon happened. The Legendary Signer came forward from the ashes of a volcano and performed what the Nazca people termed 'a miracle'."

"You don't think it's a miracle, Doctor?"

"I'll just say something amazing happened and leave it at that. The Legendary Signer curled his hand into a fist, and tapped the Mark of the Dragon on his chest. His mark channeled the power of the Crimson Dragon into his fist, and it was set ablaze. Wasting no time, he hurled the flame at Red Nova, forcing the Crimson Devil right into the earth, and creating the Serpent Nazca line where he was sealed."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "There is no such thing as a 'Serpent' Nazca line, Doctor."

"Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there, Rory. Red Nova was a creature so vile, that the Serpent Nazca line was covered with sand and dirt to disguise its location, so no one could find and attempt to unseal him. As he sank under the ground, Red Nova swore that he would return and obtain his revenge on Crimson Dragon."

"The villain always seems to do that, apparently." muttered Amy.

"Read a lot of fairy tales, Pond?"

"Before I grew up, yes."

"You never know, fairy tales can wind up being true after all, if what you've seen in your travels is any indication."

"Fine, I'll admit you've got me there, Doctor."

"Looks like I have. The deed done, the Crimson Dragon returned to his place in the stars, followed by his servants, keeping watch on the world lest the Immortals return. Following that event, the Immortals became known as the 'Earthbound Immortals', symbolic of their imprisonment under the ground."

"And the Signers?"

"Both the Legendary Signer and the Legendary Dark Signer disappeared into the recesses of time, their identities still unknown to the very day. The Legendary Signer, dashing fellow may I add, became revered as a hero among the Nazca people."

"So did the Earthbound Immortals break out again?"

"You're telling me that you're not eager, Pond? Looks like it's getting dark already. I think that's a story for another day. Or night."

Amy sighed reluctantly. "Fine."

Rory relaxed in his sleeping bag. "I wouldn't mind hearing what happens next, Doctor."

The Doctor beamed. "Good to know. Go to sleep, you two. Good night." The Time Lord smiled as the couple replied back, before they drifted off to dreamland, lying next to each other for warmth. Turning his back on his companions, the Doctor leaned backward, using his elbows to prop up the front of his frame. He stared at the stars, and found his lips curling into a large smile as he caught sight of a certain crimson-red one, which twinkled before his eyes. Standing up, he checked that his companions were sound asleep before raising his right arm to neck level and stretching it towards the campfire for a second. He lowered his arm and the fire died out, seemingly by itself.

_"It's been so long since my mark was removed, and yet I still feel its power coursing through my body, building in my chest." _The Time Lord closed his eyes and curled the fingers of his right hand into a fist, which he pressed against his left pectoral muscle. Underneath the fist on his chest, the same image of a red dragon curled into a near-circle reappeared. Above the wrist, his fist burst into red flames, yet the Doctor showed no sign that the fire bothered him in the slightest. His clothes also remained unscathed. Opening his eyes, he looked down and stared at the flames dancing around his fist. "_Blazing Soul... I have to wonder, does he also feel his power lingering in him?"_

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I apologize for the late update, but my work has been catching up to me. Some of you may ask, why is there a chapter devoted to the storyline of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's? Well, I'm quite fond if that anime, and there would likely be a duel or two at some point in the story. I haven't written one before, and frankly, would like to try my hand at it. Additionally, due to time travel, one staple of Doctor Who is providing unusual and whimsical explanations as to why things in history happened the way they did, largely due to the Doctor. One example is him claiming to be the one who dropped apples on Issac Newton's head. I thought Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's explanation for the formation of the Nazca Lines fitted right into that niche. As a character, Amy is shown to secretly like fantasy stories, and depends a fair bit on the Doctor for emotional support like a daughter, so that was an interesting bedtime story I thought he would tell. Besides, I need a filler chapter too. Here's the glossary.

(1) The Doctor's tenth incarnation used the same water pistol in the episode "The Fires of Pompeii" to hold off some Pyroviles, a race of aliens who had a rock-based form with a magma interior, and were vulnerable to water. Credit for the idea of using the water pistol comes from Master of the Boot.

(2) Henrik's is a department store in London that the Doctor's ninth incarnation blew up with explosives when it was occupied by Autons in the episode "Rose". This was where he met his first companion, Rose Tyler.

OCs are still being taken for this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**


	21. A Magician's Revelation of Truth!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered, the point is to discover them." _– Galileo Galilei

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 21: A Magician's Revelation of Truth!**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Streets, January 8, 2011, 8:30 a.m.)_

Nacrene City was more than simply a Trainer's second stop on his quest to the Unova conference. Located to the north of Striaton City, large portions of the small but rustic settlement consisted of repurposed warehouses, many over a century old. Many artists have taken advantage of this however, decorating the warehouse walls with their own creativity, earning Nacrene City the title of "city of art".

Walking through the streets of the city, the Doctor ran a few meters ahead of his companions before turning around to face them, throwing his arms out to his sides as he took in Nacrene City's scenery. "Ah! Nacrene City at last! After that delay yesterday, I can't say that I'm not pleased to be here." The Time Lord cast a glance at Sophie. "Although, we likely would be here earlier today if you didn't take so long to wake up, Sophie. Nevermind that. First order of business, we get down to the gym and earn a badge. I know I need one, and so do you, Sophie."

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, that would be my fourth one."

"Fourth? The Nacrene Gym's typically the second gym to be challenged, but I suppose everyone travels Unova differently."

"Well, I was born in Snowpoint City in Sinnoh, and came here when I was ten, two years after my brother Nicolas."

"Living here for quite a while then? A beautiful region I'd say."

"Yeah, I moved to Mistralton City and lived there for a while. That was also where my brother first lived when he came to Unova."

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Ah yes, Mistralton City. Flying-type Pokemon live there. Lots and lots of flying-type Pokemon. Might have something to do with the fact that it's one stop on their migration routes."

"Actually, One of my passions is flying-type Pokemon, actually. I aspire to complete my research of flying-type Pokemon in Unova."

"Quite a _lofty_ goal, if I do say so myself." The Doctor let out a chuckle at his own joke, prompting groans from his companions. He scratched his head. "Why does no one else find that funny?"

Amy sighed, arms wrapped around her egg case. "Because it's lame, Doctor."

"Not when I was young lad, I tell you."

"How old are you again, Doctor?" asked Rory.

"907, give or take **(1)**."

Skylar blinked as she adjusted her sunglasses to fit more sungly on her head. "Is that another joke, Doctor? You only look slightly older than Rory and Amy."

The Time Lord cast his gaze at the girl. "Looks can be deceiving, Skylar."

Rory shrugged. "Well there you go, Doctor. Look at how old you are. That's the reason the joke's no longer funny."

"I need to get on with the times, it seems." Turning to Sophie, the Doctor shot her a sly smirk. "Anyway, I suppose another of your goals is to enter the Unova conference, Sophie?"

Sophie nodded. "Yes. My brother's planning on doing that too."

"Oh really now?"

"Yeah, why?"

The Time Lord's smirk grew wider. "Well, I doubt the two of you will get very far in that endeavour **(2)**. Heck, I doubt either of you will make it _past the quarterfinals_."

Sophie huffed. "And why's that?"

"Because _I'll_ be competing as well. And _I'm_ the Doctor."

"What does that prove?"

"That frankly, you had better throw away your plans for winning. _Nothing's stopping me_, not even_ you_."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll have to see about that."

The Doctor responded with a smug expression. "Yes we will. You're welcome to try though."

"I believe I shall."

The Time Lord gently patted Sophie on the shoulder, his lips forming a genuine grin of approval. "Now that's what I want to see. Good luck with that."

Realizing the unusual form of pep talk prescribed to her by the Doctor, Sophie took in the shift in tone of his voice to a warm one, and felt herself losing any feelings of distaste and irritation towards him. She returned his grin with one of her own. "Thank you, Doctor."

"You're welcome."

Skylar turned to Rory and Amy. "Does the Doctor have to look down on Sophie like that? I mean, he's probably irritated at her laziness, I am sometimes, and I know he sorta patched things up and all, but I think that's too much..."

Rory sighed. "The Doctor is testing Sophie. He actually _wants_ her to succeed at her goals, and that's one way he encourages her to do so. He even does it to us sometimes."

"That's a weird way of doing things."

"I wish he wouldn't use that way, but hey, it works. Don't fix it if it ain't broke."

"I can't help but agree with that, loath as I am to admit it."

The Doctor spun around in a circle to turn his back to his companions, as he switch on his Town Map to consult it. "Well, I suppose we should be headed to the gym now. No sense in loitering around here. Let's see now, according to the Town Map, the gym should be about a hundred meters to the right from the first intersection down this street. Seems like a big building for a gym."

Skylar perked up. "Here's a fun fact. Did you know that the building that now houses the Nacrene Gym was initially a mansion? It belonged to the leader of twelve brave souls who finally managed to seal away the two dragons of Unova, thus stopping their rampage across the region. The building was their meeting place."

The Doctor felt his brow furrow into a subtle frown upon hearing Skylar's comment, but kept his thoughts to himself. _"So that's where they were meeting all along. I'd better remember that, it's possible that I could find some very valuable information there."_

Sophie shot the other girl an offended look. "Hey! Only Zekrom did the rampaging. It's the Black Prince's dragon, you know. Why do people have to pin the blame on the White Prince and Reshi-"

Before Sophie could complete her sentence, the Doctor hastily interrupted her. "Long story short, you really respect the White Prince and his dragon then?"

"I feel that they were scapegoats in this whole mess. After all, they were only trying to protect Unova and stop their counterparts. The Black Prince willfully killed for entertainment. The White Prince fought only when he had to do so."

"Someone knows her history." replied the Doctor.

"So who was it that sealed the dragons away?" asked Rory.

"No one really knows, as their names remain a mystery. But they certainly did dress very strangely, as they wore long, flowing red robes and unusual flower-like golden collars around their heads and necks."

In front of the group and by virtue of his back facing his companions, out of sight from them, the Doctor furrowed his brow at Skylar's comment as he continued to walk onwards. _"Sigh. Of course, Time Lords... Why am I not surprised?"_

"How did the dragons get sealed in stone orbs anyway?"

"No one is really sure how, but it involved a staff and some unusual sash."

The Doctor bit his lip, out of sight from his companions. _"The Rod and Sash of Rassilon sealed away two dragons. No wonder they're coverted artifacts to be safeguarded by the Lord President of Gallifrey."_

Skylar continued to talk. "Anyway, after the dragons were sealed, the leader sold the mansion and all twelve of them mysteriously vanished, along with the items they used to seal away the dragons, but not before hiding the stone orbs at two secret locations in Unova, as far away from each other as possible." The Doctor's hands clenched themselves tighter around his Town Map as he continued to walk. "In fact, the mansion is now also a museum. The building changed hands until it was eventually declared a heritage site and finally converted into the museum. The Nacrene Museum. It's closed until tonight, because they're getting ready to display a bunch of artifacts excavated from the Relic Castle. There's going to be a big launch event then."

Rory looked puzzled. "Is that so? Fascinating. Anyway, it seems like I've been hearing quite a lot about disappearances lately. Especially due to those Trainers and their Pokemon going missing."

"I find it strange that the police haven't discovered any clues in that regard, except for a possible connection to Zekrom. I often thought that the dragons would wind up being sealed forever. Guess that isn't the case after all. Who knows how long it will be before the same happens to Reshi-" The Doctor halted suddenly, causing all of his companions to bump into his back.

Amy frowned at the Time Lord's stationary back, irritated that he almost caused her to drop her egg case. "Doctor, why did you stop?"

The Doctor stared briefly at his Town Map before looking at the building in front of him. "It seems that I have located the Nacrene Gym, and I must say, lovely architecture, a bit posh though. Then again, judging by the fact that this used to be a mansion, that was to be expected, I suppose. Well, it's a nice spot for a museum." The Time Lord raised his head from the screen of his Town Map and caught sight of the building once again. Largely composed of an orange brick facade, the building was large and rectangular, and had a central section with a green doorway. Above the doorway was a large semicircular blue window, framed with white marble. On either side of the window were yellow bas-reliefs with swirl designs, topped with additional bas-reliefs depicting flowers. The building had a yellow roof, and two wings projecting from either side of the central section. The top halves of each wing was adorned with sunk reliefs that illustrated rectangles. The building was surrounded by a fence of orange brick, with two pillars of white marble forming the gateway which granted access. The middle of the pillars were each decorated by a blue ribbon.

Rory squinted at the left pillar marking the gateway, and his eyes widened. "I thought you said that the museum was closed."

Skylar shrugged. "But it is."

"Well, there's someone there, at the gate, leaning against that pillar."

Her husband's comment prompted Amy to look the direction of his gaze, and she nodded. "Huh. It's that 'N' guy from Accumula Town. Small world."

The Doctor shrugged before switching off his Town Map. Pocketing the device, he strode over to N. "Hello there, mate. Lovely day, isn't it?"

Raising his head slightly, N turned to stare at the Time Lord, giving him a brief nod of acknowledgement. "Doctor, it's been a while, but rest assured, my views have not changed. I want to see things no one else can perceive. The truth of Pokemon inside Pokeballs, and the ideal of how Trainers should be. And a future where Pokemon have become perfect... Do you not feel the same?"

The Time Lord bit his lower lip for several tense second, seemingly struggling with the dilema of answering in the affirmative or the negative. Amy huffed. "Is it that hard of a question for the Doctor to answer?"

"That guy seems to take after the goals of the two princes, though he seems more idealistic." remarked Sophie.

"Perfection. Rolls right off your tounge, doesn't it?" The Doctor stuck his tounge out, making the reddish-pink wet appendage protrude between his lips. He spent the next second running it down the pink oval course that framed his oral cavity before causing it to retreat back inside. "Yes. What is perfection? The ultimate state where something is without fault? That where no mistakes are commited? Where nothing is capable of marring it? But what is something without its faults? Confucius states, 'When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them.' You make faults sound like a twisted abomination, a scar that not even plastic surgery can remove."

Sophie scratched her head. "Plastic surgery can remove scars?"

The Doctor briefly turned to face the girl before returning his head to the position it took a minute ago. "No, not completely. But if it helps, then yes."

"What?"

"And that's my line!"

"Huh?"

Rory sighed. "Sophie, one rule to keep in mind when travelling with the Doctor, when he says something, don't question it. Just roll with it."

"So you just blindly follow him?"

The nurse let out another sigh. "Sometimes, it feels that way, doesn't it, Amy?"

Amy nodded. "Unfortunately so."

"It seems to be that perfection is where faults are subdued to the point of disappearance, while virtues are made to shine blindingly. But to quote Lewis F. Korns, 'Some people have a way of making their faults pleasing, while others have a way of making their virtues repulsive.' With that in mind, would a fault necessarily be a burden?" The Doctor paused, allowing those present a minute to absorb his words before he resumed talking. "Thus, my answer to you is _no_, because faults make people and Pokemon alike into who they are."

N blinked once before opening his own mouth to speak. "Huh. I expected more from you. Now pay attention. My friends and I will test you to see if you can see this future, too." He reached for his belt and retrieved a distictive red-and-white sphere.

Amy shifted the egg case slightly in her arms. "Another battle?"

"What do you mean 'another battle'?" replied Skylar.

"The last time we saw N, he challenged the Doctor to a one-on-one battle, which the Doctor won."

"I see."

"His goal's apparently to get people to release all their Pokemon and separate them."

Sophie sighed. "He doesn't trust people to be capable Trainers, does he? Sigh, I don't even trust most people. Just those close to me, and my Pokemon."

Rory was left to his thoughts upon hearing Sophie's comment. "_The Doctor was right. Sounds to me like Pokemon are more than pets to just about everyone."_

The Doctor held one of his own Pokeballs in response to N's challenge. "Now how should this battle go, N?"

"A 3-on-3 with no substitutions might be appropriate. Unless you don't _have_ three Pokemon, that is?"

The Time Lord pouted. "I _do_ have three Pokemon alright." His expression soon softened. "Anyway, 3-on-3 is fine by me. Then again, what have I _not_ agreed to recently?"

N: 3

The Doctor: 3

N cleared his throat. "Very well then. Pidove, grace this battle with your presence." Tossing his Pokeball, N sent out a specimen of the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon. With a few wingbeats, the little Pokemon ascended a few meters into the air. The Doctor silently hurled his Pokeball, which opened to reveal his Tepig. "A Tepig, hmmm? No matter, Pidove let's begin with Quick Attack, if you please." The little Pokemon bowed the top half of its frame downwards and soared towards Tepig in a fast, yet controlled dive. A silver streaked stream of white energy was emitted from Pidove's tail feathers where it sliced the air. As the Pidove neared its target, it began to stabilize its dive into a straightforward glide.

_"Tepig isn't a particularly fast Pokemon, so there's little use in attempting to dodge this." _"Meet Pidove with Flame Charge, Tepig!" Upon perceiving his Trainer's command, the Fire Pig Pokemon bolted towards the oncoming Tiny Pigeon Pokemon. Each step he took served to add much needed boosts to his adrenaline, as a red cloak of fire radiated from Tepig's frame, encompassing it.

"If you please, pull out your dive, Pidove." The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon complied, tilting its head upwards into the sky as it let off several flaps of its wings, which had the effect of lifting its frame into the haven of the atmosphere. His opponent now out of his sight, Tepig skidded to an abrupt halt as he ceased his Flame Charge. "And now, kindly execute Air Cutter, Pidove." Pidove soared forward above Tepig, before turning its frame 360 degrees to face the Fire Pig Pokemon's rear end. Its wings took on a light blue sheen as it began to flap them vigorously. Each flap had the effect of detaching thin, light blue X-shaped blades of energy from the Pidove's wings at its intended target from behind.

The Doctor's eyes widened in alarm. "Get away from there, Tepig!" Stuck in the trajectory of his opponent's attack, and unable to see its approach, the Fire Pig Pokemon attempted to evade in the only way he knew how, by running forward. The maneuver did little to deter the attack however, as several blades of energy smacked against Tepig's rear end and legs, knocking his down on his stomach. His left eye clenched tightly shut, Tepig gritted his teeth as he struggled to straighten his legs and stand. "TEPIG!"

"Air Cutter has an increased chance of dealing a critical hit, which doesn't translate into good fortune for Tepig." muttered Skylar.

"Doubling the damage?" asked Rory.

"Uh huh."

N straightened his baseball cap. "It seems like your Pokemon's cooperation with you could stand to be better, Doctor. Pidove, please show him what I mean with Air Cutter again." Just as Tepig managed to stand erect, a few more flaps of the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon's light blue glowing wings launched more X-shaped blade of energy at the Fire Pig Pokemon, whose back was still facing N's Pokemon.

The Time Lord bit his lip. "Tepig, remember what I taught you at the river? The dog paddle? Just trust me and use it!" If the Doctor's Pokemon had time enough to spare, he would have raised an eyebrow and questioned his Trainer's sanity in the utilization of a swimming technique on concrete pavement. Nevertheless, Tepig did as he was told, bending his legs at the knees, and attempted to create circles by dragging them along the cobblestones. The attempt ended in failure as one of his forelegs caught the side of a cobblestone, causing him to trip onto his right side with a shriek of surprise. The rounded shape of Tepig's body only added to the momentum of his fall, as he involuntarily rolled along the pavement, and out of the way from Pidove's attack, which harmlessly struck the ground to his left, in the space he occupied a second ago.

Sophie whistled as Tepig quickly got to his feet and turned around to face his opponent. "That was a weird way to dodge an attack."

Amy rolled her eyes. "What sort of person is the Doctor?"

"Weird?"

"Bingo."

N clapped his hands a few times. "I will credit you with the innovative dodge, Doctor. Now then, Pidove, please get in close and use Quick Attack." Having accumulated a substantial altitude above Tepig, N's Pidove dove towards him with its wings spread, a stream of white energy with silver streaks emitting from its tail.

"Jump above Pidove now, Tepig!" commanded the Doctor. The Fire Pig Pokemon waited until Pidove was half a meter from reaching him, before complying. As the Time Lord had planned, Tepig's jump ensured that the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon flew underneath him. However, it only succeeded in clearing its head from under the back of the Tepig's frame, before the Fire Pig Pokemon landed on the ground, pinning the majority of Pidove's body under his legs. Pidove shrieked in pain as it felt the weight of the Doctor's Tepig bearing down on its small body. The Doctor's next command was swift. "Ember." Arching his head to the left to look at Pidove's front, Tepig shot a stream of fire bolts from his snout, which caused the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon to winch as they struck its neck.

"Your Pokemon has a strong voice, but Pidove will qwell it with Gust!" Despite its prone position underneath Tepig, the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon managed to flap its wings repeatedly, sending gusts of wind upwards and outwards, jettisoning Tepig from the top of its frame. The Fire Pig Pokemon shrieked as he suddenly found himself airborne. "Pidove, do combine Leer with Quick Attack so we can show our bond." Making eye contact, Pidove glared sharply at Tepig, who winched as his Defense stat was reduced. Before the Fire Pig Pokemon had a chance to react, N's Pidove dove up into the air after it, colliding with Tepig in a successful application of Quick Attack, knocking him further upwards. "Now would you repeat that last move, Pidove?" Taking advantage of Tepig's perilous state and its position above him in altitude, the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon halted its ascension, bending its frame downwards as it swooped to strike Tepig. With Tepig unable to take any evasive action, the attack scored a clean hit as he was sent on an accelerated plummet towards the ground.

"TEPIG!" The Doctor rushed towards the Fire Pig Pokemon as he slammed into the cobblestones, knocking a loose one from its cement setting. The dislodged cobblestone sailed through the air, striking the Time Lord hard in the left shin, causing him to sprawl to the ground due to the loss of support from his leg. Winching, he stretched his arm out and grabbed a cobblestone, pulling himself towards his downed Pokemon. Another agonizing stretch and pull along the pavement finally allowed him to reach Tepig, as he noted that the Fire Pig Pokemon's eyes were swirly. Taking Tepig's Pokeball in hand, he recalled his Pokemon.

N: 3

The Doctor: 2

Rory winched. "That looked like it hurt."

"For who? The Doctor or Tepig?" asked Amy.

"Both. Hopefully that stone didn't break the Doctor's tibia. He might get a sprain though. At the very least, he'll have a nasty bruise."

"Oh, the Doctor is a hardhead. He'll pull through." The Time Lord pulled himself into a sitting position and pulled up his left trouser leg to reveal a big black-and-blue bruise in the middle. Grimacing slightly, he rolled his trouser leg down and reached for another Pokeball.

"Still inclined to continue, Doctor?" asked N. "I admire your tenacity." The Time Lord silently sent out his Snivy. Upon her entrance, Snivy turned to see her Trainer sitting on the ground, clucthing his left leg, but he simply waved off her look of concern.

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "As a grass-type, Snivy has a type disadvantage against the flying-type Pidove. What is the Doctor thinking?"

Amy shrugged. "Certainly not the same thing as you, Skylar."

N wasted no time in issuing a command. "Pidove, execute Air Cutter, if you please." The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon complied, its wings taking on a light blue glow as it flapped them, sending X-shaped blades of energy at Snivy.

Deciding not to stand, the Doctor winched slightly at his injury before shrugging it off. "Snivy, use Leaf Tornado!" The Grass Snake Pokemon generated her attack, forming a vortex of air that proceeded to suck in Pidove's Air Cutter, keeping it suspended above Snivy and preventing it from striking her. Now reverse the polarity, er, I mean, the spin! I really need to stop muddling that up..." Snivy spinning her tornado in the opposite direction had the effect of ejecting the blades of energy from Pidove, sending them back at their source. Caught off guard, Pidove was forced to endure its own attack scoring hits on its frame. The strikes served to destabilize it from the air, and it began to fall towards the ground.

"That's an interesting way to use the attack." said Sophie.

But the Time Lord was not done. "Catch Pidove in your attack, Snivy!" Still keeping up her Leaf Tornado, Snivy traveled towards the falling Pidove, successfully sucking it into the vortex of air, allowing the leaves inside to batter away at her opponent. "Vine Whip, Snivy!" Although she was upside down, Snivy extended two vines from her shoulders, using them to harshly whip N's Pidove. As her Leaf Tornado dispersed, Snivy wrapped a vine around the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon's body, binding its wings to its sides. "Now fling Pidove and meet it with Tackle, Snivy." The Grass Snake Pokemon reared back the vine entrapping the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon and swung it forward, releasing her opponent and throwing it with its front facing her. Snivy rushed at the Pidove as it careened through the air, intending on executing her Tackle.

"Pidove, do try to disengage that Snivy, will you?" The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon flapped its wings repeatedly, eventually gaining some degree of control over its flight pattern, before making to fly up into a safer altitude.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Oh no you don't. Snivy, use Vine Whip again." A vine still extended, Snivy hurled it toward the retreating Pidove, successfully wrapping it around one of its legs. She began to retract the vine like a fisherman who had just caught his quarry, pulling the hapless Tiny Pigeon Pokmeon towards her again. "Now, Tackle."

"Quickly, Pidove, Air Cutter!" N's Pokemon attempted to follow his command, flapping its light blue glowing wings, No sooner had it released one blade of energy at its opponent did Snivy release it, charging through the attack and slamming into its frame with a full body tackle. Pidove was knocked down and landed on its back, its eyes swirly.

Skylar looked impressed. "That's one tough Snivy, since she was able to beat a Pokemon with a type advantage over her. Then again, Pidove was somewhat weakened by Tepig. The last time I saw her battle, she did defeat a Pokemon with much help from her teammates, and two more without help."

"She sounds like a Pokemon to look out for." replied Sophie.

N: 2

The Doctor: 2

N held out his Pidove's Pokeball as he recalled it. "Your assistance was appreciated, Pidove. Now rest." He briefly fiddled with his Menger sponge before taking another Pokeball in hand. "And now, come forth, Timburr." N's Pokeball opened to reveal a small humanoid bipedal creature with a black nose and bulbous protrusions extending from the front of its head and back of its neck. Pink bands adorned the back of its head, as well as its shoulders and thighs. It held a 2x4 under one arm.

Rory scanned the creature with his Pokedex. _Timburr, the Muscular Pokemon. These Pokemon appear at building sites and help out with construction. They always carry squared logs._

N wasted no time in commanding his Pokemon. "Timburr, if you may, use Rock Throw." Holding its 2x4 in both hands vertically aloft, the Muscular Pokemon slammed it directly into the pavement before tilting it backwards like a crowbar, prying loose a cobblestone. Timburr lifted its 2x4, bringing the cobblestone up onto its lumber. It then flipped the 2x4 upwards, sending the cobblestone into the air. Before the cobblestone could fall back onto terra firma, the Muscular Pokemon swung back its 2x4 like a baseball bat and then brought it forwards, knocking into the cobblestone, and sending it towards the Doctor's Snivy with intense speed.

"Dodge it, Snivy!" Extending her vines, Snivy pushed them against the ground, sending her small frame up into the air with them as support. On its descent, the cobblestone sailed through the gap between Snivy's vines, harmlessly under her body, before slamming into the pavement with enough force to crack it in two. One half bounced up towards the Doctor, forcing him to hold his hands in front of his face for protection. He caught the stone in his right hand, flinching slightly at the impact it made against his flesh.

Rory winced at the sound of the braking cobblestone. "I don't want to image what sort of injury Snivy would sustain if that attack made contact. Or what would happen to the Doctor's face if he didn't catch that stone."

N sighed. "I apologize for that wayward attack, Doctor, but this battle must go on. Timburr, please utilize Low Kick." Before Snivy could react, Timburr rushed at her and slammed its 2x4 into her vines, knocking her down to the ground as her only support was compromised.

"The heavier the opponent is, the more damage Low Kick inflicts. Since Snivy's only 17.9 lbs, that attack shouldn't do much." remarked Skylar.

"Maybe N just wants to put Snivy in a compromising position." suggested Amy.

"Timburr, follow this up with Leer, if you don't mind." commanded N. Bent over to loom above Snivy, N's Pokemon contorted its face into a glare, which reduced her Defense stat. Amy smiled at the validation of her hypothesis.

The Doctor's face remained calm. "Vine Whip." Vines still extended, Snivy brought one up and used it to smack Timburr across the face. Dropping its 2x4 from the shock, the Muscular Pokemon pressed its hand to its visage in a bid to reduce the stinging, distracting it enough for the Doctor to come up with a counterattack. "Use Leaf Tornado, Snivy." The Grass Snake Pokemon launched her attack, engulfing herself and her opponent in the leaf-filled tornado. Sucked up into the vortex of air, Timburr's 2x4 travelled in the same direction as its wielder, but owing to its lighter mass, moved at a faster speed, enabling it to repeatedly hit the Muscular Pokemon across its body with each orbit around the eye of the tornado.

"Timburr, respond with Rock Throw." The next time the 2x4 was swept towards Muscular Pokemon, it reached out and caught the lumber in its hands. Mustering its strength, Timburr poked its 2x4 out the tornado and used it to catch onto another cobblestone, taking advantage of the tornado's spin to pry it loose. Pulled into the vortex of air by suction, the cobblestone swirled around the tornado's lower depths for a second as it traversed toward its source. It reached its destination with a resounding smack, colliding with Snivy and breaking her focus. Its progenitor knocked backwards by Rock Throw, Snivy's Leaf Tornado was flung forwards to the ground, tossing N's Timburr out from its confines.

"SNIVY!"

"Please follow this up with Leer, Timburr." The Muscular Pokemon glared at Snivy, causing a further drop in her Defense stat.

"Snivy, use Tackle." Her intent clear, the Grass Snake Pokemon charged towards her quarry.

"Respond with Bide." A split second before Snivy's attack made contact with it, Timburr's body was outlined it white as it became immobile. Snivy scored a clean hit with her attack before leaping gracefully back.

Amy looked puzzled. "What move was that?"

"Bide is a move where the user is idle for a short period of time, which does leave it vulnerable to attacks. After that period is up, the user hits the opponent with an attack that that twice the damage the user took during the idling period. It doesn't miss too, adding to its potency." replied Sophie.

"So the Doctor..."

"...can either launch a barrage of attacks against Timburr, hoping to knock it out before the idling period ends, or order his Snivy to do nothing until then. Either way, Snivy will be hit with _something_. The hit will simply be larger if he chooses to attack Timburr now."

"Snivy, use Vine Whip and then Leaf Tornado!" Extending her vines from her shoulders, Snivy lashed out at her opponent, whipping it repeatedly. Timburr's face contorted itself into a large wince as it endured the attack. Turning upside down and swishing her tail, Snivy's green tinted tornado took form, swallowing the Muscular Pokemon into its depths. "Vine Whip again, Snivy!" The Grass Snake Pokemon complied, using her vines to smack Timburr around in her tornado, like she had done with N's Pidove. Inside the vortex of air, the Musclar Pokemon shot a beam of white energy down towards Snivy, creating an explosion which dispersed the tornado and knocked both Pokemon away from each other in opposite directions. When the smoke cleared, Snivy was crouched over and down on one knee, her hands on the pavement, while Timburr was unconscious on its back with its 2x4 on top of its frame. Heavy panting could be heard from the Grass Snake Pokemon.

"Snivy's still standing?" asked Rory.

Skylar nodded. "Yes, but barely, though she did use that technique before. It looks like Bide being used inside of Leaf Tornado decreased its power somewhat. As the attack was shot down towards Snivy, the tornado's winds pulled some of the energy away from its beam, reducing the amount that actually hit her. No doubt Snivy would have fainted otherwise. I have to admit, that was very clever of the Doctor. Timburr's 2x4 also fell on top of its body when it was thrown out of the tornado, so that did some damage as well. I guess that's one time having a weapon is a disadvantage."

N: 1

The Doctor: 2

N calmly recalled his unconscious Timburr. "You have my thanks for your efforts, Timburr." As his hand brought his Timburr's Pokeball to his belt, he unclipped another, his last, to replace it. "Tympole, allow your strength to shine." A toss of the red-and-white sphere revealed a small tadpole-like creature with a black rounded body. It had two blue and black-ringed bumps on the sides of its body, a cream-colored face and a blue tail. Its eyebrows were shaped like two quarter notes. "And now, Tympole, commence with Supersonic." The Tadpole Pokemon opened its mouth and shrieked, releasing a disorienting beam of sound at Snivy.

"Dodge it, Snivy!" commanded the Doctor. The Grass Snake Pokemon attempted to follow her Trainer's command by sidestepping the attack, but Tympole simply turned its head in that direction, nailing Snivy with the move regardless. A ring of Torchic surrounded Snivy's head as she became starry-eyed, beginning to stumble around in a daze, indications of her newfound confused status. "Try and use Vine Whip then." Two vines extended from her shoulders, Snivy lobbed them towards her opponent, only for them to rebound backwards and smack her across her face and stomach. She fell backwards, swirly-eyed. Straightening up slightly from his sitting position, the Doctor recalled his Pokemon without a word.

Rory looked bewildered. "What happened? Did Snivy just knock herself out?"

Sophie nodded. "When a Pokemon's confused, half the time it tends to hurt itself. Since Snivy was on her last ropes, I'm not surprised that she fainted from that."

N: 1

The Doctor: 1

The Doctor held his last Pokeball in hand. "Alright, one Pokemon left. Good luck to you, N." A toss of the red-and-white sphere revealed the Time Lord's Oshawott. "Oshawott, use Tackle." Kicking off from the ground, Oshawott ran at his quarry.

"Tympole, kindly respond with Bubblebeam, and aim for Oshawott's scalchop." The Tadpole Pokemon complied, opening its mouth and releasing a stream of bubbles at the Sea Otter Pokemon. The attack met its mark, dislodging the scalchop from Oshawott's chest. Oblivious to the loss of his weapon, Oshawott charged forward, ramming into Tympole with his own attack.

"Retrieve your scalchop, Oshawott!" Briefly puzzled at his Trainer's request, the Sea Otter Pokemon looked down at his chest and noticed the reason said request was issued. His eyes widened as he turned his head back and saw his scalchop resting on the pavement a few steps away.

N seized the opportunity. "Now please utilize Round to its fullest extent, Tympole." Taking advantage of Oshawott's distraction, the Tadpole Pokemon unleashed a melodic song from its mouth, accentuated with colorful waves of sound. Oshawott found his hands clutching his ears as he attempted to drive the recurring noise from his head. "And to follow it up, Supersonic." A beam of sound from Typole's mouth was launched at Oshawott, disorienting him, and causing his eyes to go starry, with a ring of Torchic spiraling around his head.

"Oshawott, Razor Shell!" Despite his confusion, Oshawott followed the command, pushing Tympole aside and walking back slightly in a daze, as he picked up his scalchop and elongated a blue sword-shaped pillar of water from it. He proceeded to swing it at his opponent, knocking it away. Tympole tumbled along the ground for a meter until it managed to regain its bearings. "Water Gun." Replacing his scalchop on his chest, Oshawott fired a forceful shot of water from his mouth, but the attack's progenitor tilted his head slightly too high, causing it to pass harmlessly over the Tadpole Pokemon, save for being pelted by a few water droplets which fell from the attack.

"Please retaliate with Round." Colorful waves of sound emerged from Tympole's mouth, causing Oshawott's body to visibly shake as he was affected by the attack.

"Not bad. N's taking advantage of Oshawott's confusion to further disorient him with another sound based move like Round." remarked Skylar.

The Doctor beamed. "As a Seventh Fonist of Auldrant, I'd say your Tympole has perfect pitch. In fact, call me a Seventh Fonist of Auldrant." The Time Lord cupped his chin briefly before shaking his head. "No, don't call me a Seventh Fonist of Auldrant, that's rubbish. Just call me the Doctor. That sounds way better, at least in my opinion. But hey, my opinion is important, because _I am the Doctor_. By the way, have you heard about the Grand Fonic Hymn? Lovely melody. I could sing it, but stuff here might be destroyed in the process."

Sophie scratched her head. "What's the Doctor rambling about? I don't think I even _understood_ half of what he said."

Rory shrugged. "I think it's better not to ask."

The Doctor broke himself out of his train of thought. "Anyway, Oshawott, use Razor Shell." The Sea Otter Pokemon charged at his opponent while wielding his scalchop, a pillar of water attached to it.

"Kindly show Oshawott here the power of Round, Tympole." The Tadpole Pokemon attacked again, forcing Oshawott to halt his attack and clutch his ears. The sound waves knocked the scalchop out of his hands, sending it flying towards the Doctor. The Time Lord raised a hand to shield himself, only for the sharp edge of the weapon to slice the length of his left wrist. Eyes widened, the Doctor brought his cut wrist to his mouth, sucking up his dark red blood before anyone could see its slight orange tinge **(3)**. The stars in Oshawott's eyes disappeared as he was relieved from his confused state.

The Time Lord stopped sucking on his wounded wrist for a minute to issue a command. "Oshawott, use Water Gun on your scalchop." The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded and shot a stream of water past the Doctor at his weapon, propelling it into the air. Leaping up, Oshawott reached out to catch the appendage mid-air.

But N had other plans. "Tympole, would you kindly use Mud Shot on Oshawott?" Tympole raised its tail and slapped it into the ground, scooping up a ball of mud which it flung at Oshawott.

"Use Water Gun on your scalchop, Oshawott." Lowering his head, Oshawott fired off his attack, which made contact with his scalchop and shot it towards the Mud Shot, sendng himself further upwards in the process. Propelled forward by Water Gun, the scalchop smashed through the ball of mud, winding up coated in the substance. Tympole's eyes widened as the mud-covered scalchop smacked into its small frame, before it came to rest in the narrow gap between two cobblestones, inside edge facing up. The Doctor pointed at the scalchop. "Water Gun!" Still airborne, Oshawott fired off a stream of water down at his scalchop, causing it to spin in a clockwise direction within the gap. As it spun, chunks of mud and water were flung outwards in various directions, much of it striking N's Tympole. Eventually ejecting all of the mud covering it, the scalchop was blasted out of the gap from the force of the Water Gun. "And now, Razor Shell, Oshawott!" Oshawott held its arms at its sides as it dived towards the appendage, catching it in hand and elongating a pillar of water from it. As Tympole happened to be in the path of the pillar's formation, it was knocked aside as the attack rammed into it, coming to rest on its back with swirly eyes. Oshawott landed on the pavement a meter away, replacing his scalchop on his chest.

N: 0

The Doctor: 1

N recalled his last Pokemon with a nod. "Tympole, your efforts in battle have not been in vain. Return." He turned to face the Doctor, who was petting Oshawott on the head while still sitting on the pavement. "Doctor! Right now, my friends aren't strong enough to save all Pokemon. Maybe I can't solve the equation that will change the world. So, I need power... Power enough to make anyone agree with me."

"Yep, that's definitely what the Black Prince sought." muttered Sophie.

Ignoring the girl, N continued to talk. "Now I know what power I need. Zekrom! The legendary Pokemon that, along with the hero, created the Unova region. It's my turn to become that hero, and you and I will be friends!"

Sophie appeared to be dumbstruck. "That guy considers the Black Prince to be a _hero_?"

The Doctor ignored Sophie as he gave N a slow nod. "Friends? I look forward to it." Without another word, N turned his back on the Time Lord and departed from the scene. The Time Lord silently recalled his Oshawott. "He's curious, but the way he bonds with Pokemon continues to amaze me." He scratched his head for a brief second. "Although, he wants to obtain _Zekrom_?" His companions eyes widened in surprise as he began to chuckle, quickly evolving into full-on laugher.

Amy sighed. "Oh, there you go again. Every room you walk into, you laugh at all the men and show off to all the girls **(4)**."

The Doctor stopped laughing and huffed. "I do not!"

"How about just now?" The Doctor snorted and rubbed his nose, trying to conceal his chuckling. "You laughed!"

The Doctor pouted. "Did not! Anyway, N wants to befriend _Zekrom_? The Pokemon that destroyed the Unova region? That's something I don't understand. But then again, I don't think it's necessary to understand everything rationally."

"You taught us that, Doctor." replied Rory.

"Indeed I did."

"But why would you understand it? Zekrom killed thousands of people in its rampage across Unova."

The Doctor shook his head. "It was a great loss, yes. And it seems that the greater the loss, the more people need someone to hate for it."

"I never got why the White Prince's dragon was blamed for the destruction as well. It was trying to stop Zekrom. Why don't they just accept that?" asked Skylar.

The Doctor sighed again. "People aren't so simple that they can accept anything and everything, Skylar. They weren't there. Sometimes, people can't even see anything that's not right in front of them."

"Are you implying that they're stupid?"

"No, I just think they need more help, and more understanding, that's all. Maybe someone capable to guide them."

"Okay, well, we should be able to get into the Nacrene Museum now, since we're researchers."

Before the Doctor could stand up, he was stopped by Rory. "Hold on. Let's take a look at your leg, Doctor." The Time Lord reluctantly rolled up his left trouser leg, allowing the nurse to see the bruise on the middle of his shin. Rory felt down the length of the Doctor's leg. "Hmmm... It doesn't feel like you broke any bones Doctor, but that bruise will be there for days, maybe a week at most. Just don't put too much stress on your leg." The Doctor having sucked out all the blood from his wrist wound allowed Rory to clean and wrap a cloth bandage around it. "And that cut will probably heal in a few days too."

The Time Lord shrugged. "Oh, I'll be fine, Rory." He stood up with a start, only to fall over backwards on his rear end, clutching his leg with a groan.

Amy smirked. "You were saying, Doctor?"

The Doctor huffed at the woman. "Oh _shut up_, Pond." He pulled out his Town Map and switched it on. "You lot go ahead. I have something to get and I'll join you in a bit." Without another word, he stood up again and tore off down the street with an occasional limp due to the bruise on his leg, becoming a speck in the corner of his companions' eyes within a minute.

"And I just told him not to put any stress on that leg..." muttered Rory.

Skylar shrugged. "That was weird. Well, let's just go in anyway."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Closing Down Sale, January 8, 2011, 9:15 a.m.)_

The Doctor looked up from his Town Map at the shop in front of him. "Hmmm... Looks like this is the place. Odd name, if I may add. But according to the Town Map, this is a joke and magic shop. Hmmm..." Checking that no one was nearby, the Time Lord reached into his wallet and retrieved a wad of six Pokedollar bills. _"I just need six bills, the denominations don't matter." _Unfolding them, he stacked the bills up and beveled them, ensuring that the vertical edges of each bill in the stack were millimeters from each other. From one vertical side of the bill stack, the Doctor rolled it up as tightly as he could into a little tube. _"The beveling was essential, since it ensured that all the vertical edges of the bills lined up neatly." S_tretching out his left arm, he placed the tube on the inside of his elbow, before grasping some of his tweed jacket's fabric below the elbow, folding it over the tube for concealment. _"Good thing I'm wearing a jacket, otherwise I can't pull this trick off. Although, a long-sleeved shirt works just fine as well. What's nice about this is that I can still hold my arm in a natural position. I just have to be careful not to open up my elbow all the way, or I risk the tube of bills popping out from my jacket. Now that the preparation's done, into the shop I go." _With that, he entered the establishment. The sight that immediately greeted him was one of two men, one in front of the counter and another behind. Several people were stationed around the confines of the shop, ostensibly customers.

He guessed that the man in front of the counter was the shopkeeper, who rolled his eyes. "What do you want now?"

The other man was livid. "You've been coning _my customers_ with that sign above your door for as long as I can remember! And yes your shop hasn't closed down or cleared its stock! This is false advertising and I can report you to Officer Jenny!"

"At you at it again? By the way, no, you can't. Because that is the _actual_ name of my shop." The shopkeeper soon noticed the Doctor walk up to the counter. "Now if you'll excuse me, _I_ have a customer, and _you_ are giving him bad impressions." The other man let out a snarl before storming out of the shop.

The Time Lord looked around the shop. "'Closing Down Sale'. Interesting name for a shop, mate."

"You do what you need to. Attracts the customers and brings them away from the competition, like you just saw."

"I have to remember that one. Do you have an air horn, mate?"

"This isn't a joke and magic shop for nothing, sir."

The Doctor clapped a few times like an overexcited schoolboy. "Oooo... I love magic."

The shopkeeper smiled. "Who doesn't?"

"Indeed. NOW THEN." The Time Lord's shout attracted the attention of several customers, who turned to stare at him. He showed his right hand, and pulled up the sleeve of his tweed jacket at his right elbow with his left hand. "Nothing up my sleeve." _"They can see that my right hand's empty. Now here's where the magic begins."_ Showing his left hand, he grasped the sleeve of his jacket at the his left elbow with his right hand, pulling up the sleeve and grabbing the tube of bills from his elbow as he did so. "And nothing up my other sleeve." He held his right hand in a closed fist to hide the tube. _"They were distracted by looking at my empty left hand, and thus did not notice my right hand grab those bills. Perfect. I just have to make sure that when pulling up my sleeves, both actions look identical so no one will be any the wiser." _The Time Lord quickly brought his hands together, masking any evidence of the bills, and began to rub his hands, slowly unfurling the wad of bills and revealing them to the people in the shop, receiving a few claps for seemingly making them appear out of nowhere. He took a 2000 Pokedollar bill from the wad and placed it on the counter. "And that's for the air horn."

As the shopkeeper rung up the Doctor's order, he walked over to a nearby empty table and sat behind it. "Now check this out." He pulled out a 25 Pokedollar coin and a cloth napkin from his jacket pocket, laying them on the table's surface. "I'm going to show you all a quick one, it just needs a coin and a napkin. Now watch." _"Good thing I have a cloth napkin. A paper napkin just won't work well."_ The Time Lord held up the coin in his right hand, fingers facing the audience, using his left hand to drape the napkin over his right hand and coin. "The coin goes right in the middle of the napkin." In a split second movement, he grasped the napkin covered coin with his left hand, allowing his right thumb to grab a flap of napkin fabric twice the size of the coin. With the extra fabric around his right thumb, he regripped the coin, moving away his left hand. _"The excuse to center the coin under the napkin was vital so I could grab that extra fabric with my right hand without them seeing it."_ With his left hand, the Doctor lifted up the napkin and set it flowing down his right wrist, revealing his right hand's fingers still holding the coin. "As you can see, the coin's still there." He quickly flicked his right wrist, flipping the entire napkin over the front to flow down the fingers of his right hand, hiding the coin again. He stared briefly at his right thumb, which was pinching the flap of fabric and the coin behind it. _"Instead of covering the coin with the fabric I just lifted, flicking it over my fingers ensures that the coin is now out of the napkin, concealed by me pinching it to the that flap of fabric. Now from the front, it looks like the coin is still right centered under the napkin, like I said." _From the outside of the napkin, the Time Lord  
quickly grasped the top of the napkin covered coin with his left hand, removing his right hand from the coin. Using his right hand, he gripped the fabric of the napkin dangling under the coin and twisted it around the coin. _"Now for some story to distract them."_ "I'll do this slowly. I'm going to wrap the napkin around the coin. And if I do this right, I can actually get the particles and molecues of the napkin to separate long enough for that coin to pass right through without leaving a hole." The Doctor grasped the flab of fabric covering the coin, and began to work it aside with his left hand, eventually revealing the coin and allowing it to drop onto the table. _"That's done. Now to show that the napkin is undamaged. A paper napkin would rip if I used it here."_ He opened the napkin completely to show no holes as he described, receiving another round of applause.

Discreetly laying the napkin on his lap, the Doctor left the coin on the table and began rapping on its surface with his right hand. "I don't know if any of you knew this, but every table has a 'sweet spot' where the wood isn't as dense. I can show you with a coin." The Time Lord covered the coin with the four fingers of his right hand, quickly and deftly swiping it off the edge of the table into his lap, bending his thumb to give the impression of his right hand now holding the coin, but with it out of sight. _"Luckily, I had that napkin to catch the coin on my lap. It would be awkward if it fell on the floor."_ The back of his right hand now faced his audience. _"They think I'm now holding the coin in my right hand when it is actually on my lap. Perfect."_ The Doctor opened his left hand to show that it was empty, before sticking his left arm under the table. "Now I'm going to go under the table." Using his left hand, he picked the coin from his lap. "Now check this out." The back of his right hand still facing the audience, the Doctor lifted it up, fingers pointing to the table's surface. Underneath the table, his left hand brought the coin to the same rough area his right hand was hovering over. He tapped the surface of the table with his right hand's fingertips while simultaneously rapping the coin against the underside of the table with his left hand, producing a noise. _"They think my right hand is making that noise with the coin, when it's my left hand that's actually holding the coin. This audio misdirection is great."_ He repeated this a few times at various points in the table. _"Now to bring this trick to its conclusion."_ He brought his hands to the same point above and below the table's surface. "Ah, there's the 'sweet spot'. Now watch." The Time Lord tapped the table's surface with his right hand's fingertips, using his left hand to produce the noise with the coin underneath. He produced a distinct noise by pressing the coin flat against the underside of the table with his left hand, while pressing the fingertip of his right middle finger onto the table's surface, moving away the other fingers on his right hand. _"Now to finish this."_ He rubbed the table's surface with his right middle fingertip for a second, before bringing up his left hand from underneath the table, dropping the coin on its surface. "And with that, the coin just passed through the 'sweet spot'. Thank you." Reveling in the applause, the Doctor took his new air horn and strode out the stop, careful not to agitate his bruised leg any further.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, January 8, 2011, 9:45 a.m.)_

While walking back to the Nacrene Gym after healing his Pokemon at the Pokemon Center, the Doctor came across a curious sight. A table was set in front of the museum, displaying many bottles of water. A man wearing a top hat and a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses sat behind the table, the front of which was crowded with several people, most of them teenagers.

The Doctor let out a sigh. _"Oh boy, it's that con artist, Wiley Chase, again. Looks like he's drawing in quite the crowd."_ He flicked one of his Pokeballs off his waist, sending out Oshawott, who looked confused as to why his Trainer called him out. "Look who's behind the table, Oshawott." The Sea Otter Pokemon visibly tensed when he followed the Time Lord's instructions. "Exactly. Now be quiet." Oshawott nodded.

Wiley cleared his throat as the Doctor took a place at the back of the crowd. "How do we increase our blood oxygen levels and start losing weight faster? The answer is oxygenated water, and that is water infused with oxygen. And so, people who consume oxygenated water will get more oxygen into their bloodstreams, and this offers a variety of health benefits. From the time oxygenated water enters the mouth, oxygen will be absorbed into the bloodstream, and this continues all the way through the digestive system. Since it's just water and oxygen, the body does not need to draw any of its energy to process the drink. In fact, the body realizes a jump in energy because of the water and the oxygen. So not only does oxygenated water helps people feel better and be healthier, and is good for the body in both the short term and in the long run. It has been concluded that there are many great benefits to drinking oxygenated water. These benefits include having more energy, and avoiding cancer, viruses, bacterial infections, and other pathogens."

A member of the crowd posed a question. "So what other benefits does this water have?"

"I'm glad you asked. Oxygenated water aids in the following processes of the body. Oxygenation of blood cells, hydration of cells and tissues, transportation of nutrients throughout the body, detoxification and elimination of wastes, immune system activation and support, slowing the aging process, and weight loss by promoting fat burning. The oxygenation of blood cells is important, since low oxygen content in tissues often leads to cancer. And with levels of air pollution rising, the amount of oxygen avaliable for human consumption has been steadily decreasing. As such, oxygenated water is vital to ensure you all get your oxygen intake."

"How is the oxygen contained in the bottle?"

"The oxygen is added by pressurizing the water with oxygen gas. Each additional atmosphere of oxygen pressure pumps 40 milligrams into each liter. Additionally, in development is a way to chemically bond O2 to H2O, which would hopefully increase that amount of oxygen even further."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Alright, I've heard enough. How about you, Oshawott?"

The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded. "Osha."

The Time Lord smirked and pushed his way to the front of the crowd, flashing his psychic paper at the masses. "Hello, everyone. John Smith, researcher at the Nacrene Museum, and I can't help but notice how you all seem to be taken in by that guy's oxygenated water. Well, to tell the truth, I really would like to point out that if we take oxygen into our bloodstreams through the water we drink, then what the heck are our lungs for? Unless you have gills like a Stunfisk or an Alomomola, it's really just an expensive burp. You're going to burp out some of that excess oxygen, and I really doubt that the oxygen which makes it to your stomach will get absorbed. After all, your lungs are adapted to this function, while your digestive system is specialized for absorbing other nutrients."

"How about oxygen preventing cancer?" asked a bystander.

"I admit he's got me there. Cancer cells metabolize anaerobically, that is, they don't require oxygen and produce acid. But if you can't get oxygen from drinking water, how is it supposed to reach your cells that way? And besides, oxygen levels on the planet have been rising ever since green plants appeared 4.5 billion years ago. When life first appeared, there was no oxygen in the atmosphere whatsoever, but when green plants arrived they started 'polluting' the air with oxygen through photosynthesis. Anyone of you with grass-type Pokemon will quickly find that out. As such, oxygen is actually a chemical pollutant! Now then, what is the chemical formula for water?"

"H2O?"

"Exactly! There's O2 in H2O! And knowing that, water is naturally 'oxygenated' anyway, and naturally contains 8 milligrams of oxygen per liter. Even if you pump extra oxygen into the water, it will soon leave once the water is exposed to air. Why? Because the oxygen that forms water is bonded to hydrogen, forming a stable compound, like a noble gas, which is why it doesn't simply degrade into hydrogen and oxygen in front of you. It's stable. In contrast, the excess oxygen pumped into the water has nothing to bond to, and as such, it has no stability whatsoever. The oxygen remains as a gas, and is thus lighter than the water, making it easy to separate and simply float out into the atmosphere."

"How about..."

Before the bystander could finish, the Doctor beat her to the punch. "And don't give me that baloney about bonding oxygen to water molecues! Can you bond anything to a noble gas? No. Why? Because they're stable, and there's no room to bind any other molecues to them. As a stable compound with that trait, water molecues can't have anything bonded to them, unless you separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecues, in which case it won't be water any longer. He says that an extra 40 milligrams of oxygen per liter is added to the water. Well, any chemist, including myself, will tell you that inhaling a liter of air, which is much easier than drinking a liter of water, will give you 146 milligrams of oxygen per liter. Not all of it will reach your bloodstream, but hey, take another breath. It's free!" The Time Lord smirked as he cast a glance at Wiley, who was beginning to fidget in his seat. He clicked his fingers, prompting his Oshawott to jump onto the table, displacing some bottles.

The Doctor removed a cup from a jacket pocket. "And here's my trusty assistant, Oshawott. Use Water Gun and fill this cup." Oshawott complied, and the Doctor held up the cup. "And according to definition, this water is 'oxygenated' too, like those in the bottles. Now then." Before everyone's eyes, the Time Lord downed the water. "What health benefits did I just get from drinking that?"

"The same as tap water?"

"Yep, and that's the truth. Tap water is also 'oxygenated'. As 'oxygenated' as the water in those bottles. See what I'm getting at?" Wiley began to reach for a Pokeball as the Doctor pointed at the bottles. "Oshawott, Razor Shell!" The Sea Otter Pokemon detached his scalchop, pillar of water jutting from it, and swung it at Wiley, but only succeeded in slicing several bottles in half, drenching the crowd. Complaints broke out from upset teens about their clothes as Wiley took advantage of the situation to send out his Abra and Teleport away. Shooting a few murderous glances at the Doctor, the crowd dispersed.

The Doctor took off his drenched tweed jacket and began to wring water from it, as Oshawott shook himself dry. "Oh blimey, he got away again. Too bad Officer Jenny wasn't around, though I don't doubt that at least one of those bystanders will report this to her." He sighed and turned to his Oshawott. "And that's why I think some of these youngsters should actually go to school for a while, instead of being so eager to embark on their Pokemon journeys at ten. They could actually stand to learn something. Not that I think Pokemon journeys are pointless, I'm a hands-on learner myself, but the sad truth is that a good number of scams work because they prey on uneducated youths."

Oshawott nodded, taking in his Trainer's words. "Osha."

The Time Lord cupped his chin and thought for a moment, before letting out a short laugh. "Miri would have had a field day with I just did." Oshawott simply chuckled in response before his Trainer recalled him. "Well, back to the museum I go." The Doctor strode over to the side of the building noticing a window. He smirked to himself as he held his sonic screwdriver to the glass. _"Perfect."_

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 10 a.m.)_

Standing in one of the Nacrene Museum's galleries, a distinguished man who appeared to be ten years older than his proper age of twenty observed as some technicians shifted a giant mass of rock across the gallery to its intended location. What appeared to be a large but crushed insect-like creature with an expression of terror on its features was petrified into the surface. The creature was bipedal with an oval head and had two thin arms, each ending in a sharp point. It also had a pair of broad legs jutting from a narrow abdomen. "Be careful with that fossil! I was the one who found it, after all." The man had honey-brown hair and was of medium height. He wore a lab coat over a dress shirt with a red bow tie, and also had black trousers and fine leather shoes. His large glasses were effective in concealing much of his light blue eyes. The man looked up from his work as he saw Professor Juniper approach. "Ah, Professor Juniper. What can I do for you?"

The professor cast a brief glance at the fossil. "How's the set up coming along, Daniel?"

"Oh just fine, everything's coming in place nicely."

"Have you seen Fennel yet? She's supposed to be coming here soon."

"Unfortunately, I haven't."

"How about the Doctor?"

Daniel scratched his head. "I-I d-don't even know what he looks like. S-Strange name though."

"Just don't say that in front of him, he just prefers to be called that. He actually has a proper name. Try not to be so shy as well. Remember, your job requires you to be in contact with a lot of people."

"S-Sorry-y. I know. H-His n-name's J-J-John S-Smith, isn't it?"

"Yes. And don't stutter so much. By the way, try and talk more often when other people are around. I can't have you be in the background being quiet when other people are having conversations. Don't hesitate to join in, I'm sure you have an opinion to share as well. Anyway, I wonder what the Doctor needed to get. I told Rory and Amy to wait in the entrance foyer for him, and put my assistants to work with the set-up, so that should keep them occupied. It might do something for Sophie's laziness too, but I'll have Nicolas keep an eye on her anyway. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Isn't it exciting? We finally discovered tangible proof for the existance of Reshi-" Before Professor Juniper could finish her sentence, the museum's alarms sounded, causing Daniel to jump, as it was an indicator of a breach in its security. "What in the world?"

A cheerful voice spoke out as its owner walked toward the center of the gallery. "Hello everyone. Lovely day, isn't it? But blimey, do keep that ringing noise down, will you? I can barely hear myself speak, let alone think, and if I can't think, I can't be clever, and if I can't be clever, people can't compliment me on my intelligence, and if people can't compliment me on my intelligence, then what is the point of me being around them?"

Professor Juniper turned around and came face-to-face with the newcomer. "Doctor!"

The Doctor let out a chuckle. "Yes, that's me alright. Good to see you again, Professor. By the way, about that noise..."

Professor Juniper cast a glance in the Time Lord's direction, and noticed the cause of the alarm's activation behind him. "Why is that window open? In fact, how did that window get opened? They're not supposed to be opened for security reasons!"

The Time Lord stared at the window he had opened. "Oh that, I opened it with my sonic."

"No wonder the alarm went off! Why did you climb in here through the window?"

"Because if I was climbing out of the window, I'd be going in the wrong direction **(5)**."

Daniel began to chuckle nervously as he turned to some technicians. "A-Alright, j-just turn off the alarm, he's s-safe." A second later, the echoing noise ceased.

Professor Juniper shrugged. "Oh, well, it's good to see you again, Doctor. Thank you for doing me that favor. I hope my assistants didn't cause you any trouble?"

The Doctor smiled. "Well, Skylar trips over feet a tad often, and Sophie was really lazy, you might want to fix that **(6)**."

"Oh, looks like I have to figure something out with them. I apologize if they inconvenienced you in any way. By the way, this is Daniel Pickman, another researcher involved with the Relic Castle expedition."

The Doctor held out a hand to the man, which he shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Daniel. Oh, and nice bow tie."

"Uh, y-yes. P-Please, John, the pleasure is all mine, a-and y-yours is..."

"Why, thank you."

"Oh yes, that reminds me, apart from the interesting artifacts that we recovered from the Relic Castle, we made another discovery, one which most certainly ranks above the others in terms of importance. Even our assistants and the general public are unaware of it for security reasons. It's just that important. In fact, I would like to request that you keep information about it from your own assistants."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what is it, if I may ask?"

"Let's just say that it's a surprise for now, but I would love to show it to you. It's just that the technicians are busy getting it ready. They should be done by tonight, in fact, just in time for the launch event."

The Doctor nodded. "No worries, I can wait."

"By the way, the gym leader, Lenora, is out at the moment, but she will be back soon, and would be happy to have a gym battle with you when she returns. She is the museum's director, you know."

The Doctor seemed to be unsure. "Are you sure that's okay with her? Seems like today is a very hectic day for everyone."

"Lenora said that it's no problem at all. In the meantime, you're welcome to take a look around the museum. I'm guessing that it's your first time here, so there's plenty to see."

"Yes it is, and don't mind if I do."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Alright, I have some paperwork to get out of the way, and since Lenora's husband and assistant director Hawes is busy supervising the technicians attending to that discovery for now, would you mind showing the Doctor around, Daniel?"

Daniel shrugged. "Um, I-I s-s-suppose. I-I s-see with no problem w-with that-t."

The Doctor beamed. "Oh goodie! I love museums."

"You and me both."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Entrance Foyer, January 8, 2011, 10:10 a.m.)_

At the museum's entrance, Rory removed his hands from ears as he began to rub them, leaning on the receptionist's desk for support, next to his wife's egg case. "Hmmm, the alarm just stopped."

Amy crossed her arms with a huff. "They were either testing it, or heaven forbid, the Doctor set it off."

"Speaking of the Doctor, he's the only researcher in the museum who's not wearing a lab coat. Trust him to break convention." muttered Rory.

Amy rolled her eyes. "The Doctor _isn't even_ a Pokemon researcher to begin with. He's just masquerading as one using the psychic paper, which everyone around here is _stupid _enough to fall for **(7)**. So much for researchers being intelligent. And he's pretending that we're his assistants."

Rory shrugged. "Well, he's certainly smart enough to _be_ a Pokemon researcher. Besides, how else is he supposed to get himself and us into the museum and have a gym battle at this time? It is closed to the public until tonight, which is when the big launch event is."

"He's just taking advantage of everyone here to get benefits."

"Do you have to say it that way? In a way, they do owe him, since he did some favours for them."

"Yeah, and how did he get to do those favours? By taking advantage of everyone's gullibility."

"I guess we might as well look around." Rory looked up to see the Doctor approach with Daniel. "Oh, here comes the Doctor now."

Daniel nodded at the couple. "R-Rory, Amy-y. Y-Your friend here is quite s-something, setting off the a-alarm by climbing i-in through t-the w-w-window-w."

"Why am I not surprised?" muttered Amy. "Where did you get off to, Doctor?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I went to get something."

Amy sighed, picking up her egg case from the receptionist's desk. "Nevermind. Anyway, can we just get on with that tour?"

"Very well then." Daniel walked off into the inner galleries of the museum, followed by the Doctor, Rory, and Amy.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Delivery Bay, January 8, 2011, 10:10 a.m.)_

"Is that the last of the food for the evening?" asked Adam, as he stared at the crates piled outside the building.

Leaning on his truck, the delivery man nodded, pointing out various sections of a form. "Yep, sign here, here, here, initial there, and sign here." Where do you want the Conkeldurr to put the crates?"

Signing the form in the requested locations, Adam jerked his thumb at an open door at the back of the building. Oh, just slightly inside. The staff will figure out the rest.

"Okie-dokie." Several Conkeldurr did as Adam instructed, and soon the delivery man was on his way. Adam strode into the the empty corridor, out of sight from any security cameras, and removed a bottle of champagne from a crate. Taking out a pin, he punctured a small, barely-noticeable hole through its cork. He took a capped test tube of water and added a grainy white powder to it, recapping it and giving the test tube a few shakes. With a dropper, he siphoned off all of the solution from the test tube and squirted it straight into the champagne through the hole in the bottle's cork. _"So, Professor Juniper wanted to offer some of this champagne to the Doctor and his assistants, eh? Well, they'll get a nasty surprise."_ Chuckling to himself, Adam walked off with the adulterated bottle in hand to place it in the museum's kitchen.

* * *

Author's note: Wow. This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it. Bonus ponts for whoever can figure out why this chapter has its title. Anyway, here's the glossary.

(1) The Doctor is known to lie about his age, and has given it at around his early 900s since the start of the revived series. He is much older than that and could easily be over 1000. It is possible that he has forgotten just how old he is.

(2) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation occasionally utilizes reverse psychology on people by openly dismissing them as useless or unimportant. But his _real_ intention is to encourage them to "prove him wrong".

(3) Time Lord blood has a different molecular structure than human blood, making it dark red with a slight orange tinge.

(4) This is a reference to a comment made by Amy to the Doctor, regarding his opinion of Rory, spoken in a DVD-exclusive scene set between the episodes "Flesh and Stone" and "The Vampires of Venice".

(5) The Doctor spoke this line in the episode "A Christmas Carol", when asked by a young Kazran Sardick why the Time Lord climbed in through the boy's window.

(6) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation occasionally treats the flaws of people like defects in machines that could easily be repaired or replaced.

(7) The psychic paper is ineffective when used on people of high intellect. They would register it as a blank card.

I am still taking OCs, if anyone wants to send them in. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Wiley Chase belongs to Indigo Hare.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**


	22. Echoes of the Past

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"History is representational, while time is abstract; both of these artifices may be found in museums, where they span everybody's own vacancy." _– Robert Smithson

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 22: Echoes of the Past**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 10 a.m.)_

Taking their first steps into the galleries of the Nacrene Museum, the Doctor, Rory, and Amy surveyed the displays laid out in front of their eyes while trailing behind Daniel. The man cleared his throat to garner their attention. "As you are all probably aware, this museum was once the mansion where the group which sealed away the two dragons of Unova convened. Note the architecture which called for all these large rooms with open spaces. In hindsight, its makes for a good way to display all this stuff. I apologize for the mess, but we're still setting up the displays for some of the artifacts we recently found at the Relic Castle."

Rory's gaze was soon captured by a blue tortoise shell-shaped rock in a diplay case. "Excuse me, is that a fossil?"

"Ah yes, that would be a Cover Fossil. It's the fossilized shell of a Tirtouga."

"Oooo... A Cover Fossil. Are there any plans to revive it?" asked the Doctor.

Daniel shook his head. "Not at the moment. We found plenty of those fossils. Besides, we have revived a good number of Tirtouga already. Just because you can revive a fossil, doesn't mean you should. I feel that it is best to leave some as museum exhibits. Reminds people of the fact that Tirtouga was once an extinct species of Pokemon."

Rory looked puzzled. "Revive it? You can't revive a fossil!"

"You can, if it's a Pokemon fossil, Rory." replied the Doctor.

"After what I've seen, I'm inclined to believe you, Doctor, and I find that scary."

Daniel scratched his head. "Say, Doctor, where did you hire your assistants from? I thought this stuff would be basic knowledge for them." The man adopted a sly smile. "Did you deliberately _not_ teach them all this so you'll seem really smart in their eyes? I have to admit, good for the ego." The Time Lord's only response was a chuckle.

Amy groaned. "It's starting to seem that way." _"Great, now we look like idiots. Note to self: keep my mouth shut when the Doctor discusses these things, and badger him for an explanation later. Better tell Rory that too."_

The Doctor continued to laugh. "Sure, why not? Makes a lot of sense now, doesn't it?" Amy shot him a dirty look which he ignored. "But yes, reviving Pokemon fossils. Think of it as a creature that's hibernating underground, and has been for millions of years, causing its body to become as rough as stone. But suddenly, it decides to wake up, and when it does, it just goes about its business as if nothing happened. Got that so far?"

"Ummm... I suppose so..."

"Good, because it's nothing like that at all." Rory and Amy sighed.

Daniel shrugged. "I'll admit, that was good humour, Doctor. No, we just extract all the DNA we can from the fossil by pulverizing it to powder and then mixing it with water, allowing the DNA to separate and float to the surface, where it can be skimmed off and collected. We then amplify it with specialized machines, prompting DNA replication on a mass scale, which eventually gives rise to a fully formed Pokemon. Unfortunately, the process causes the lingering sample to degrade, so it can't be used again to form another Pokemon. A fossil usually holds enough genetic material for one Pokemon. So we frequently breed them instead, rather then resort to destroying fossils to acquire them. Fossils are rare and expensive, you know, as well as reminders that these Pokemon went extinct at one point."

"Hmmm... Reminds me of Gallifrey** (1)**." muttered the Doctor. "Anyway, shall we move on?"

Daniel directed his attention to another display case, holding a rock with a silvery sheen. "And that would be a recently discovered meteorite which fell from space centuries ago. Rumor has it that it contains some form of cosmic energy."

"What do you think?" asked the Doctor.

"Me? Personally, I think it's a load of hogwash. There's no such things as aliens. What wishful thinking. We've sent astronauts up there and they proved space to be an empty vacuum."

"Oh? What about Deoxys, Elgyem, and Beheeyem? You know, Pokemon that are known to be non-native to this planet."

"Well, there _may_ be Pokemon that come from outer space, but no aliens. After all, Pokemon are native creatures to this planet, so if some were to come here from space, they can hardly be considered extraterrestrial. Maybe they could be if they went to another planet without Pokemon. There are no Pikachu in Unova, are there? Say I bring one to the region. It would be still on its native world and not an extraterrestrial, nevermind the fact that it's not native to Unova. But that's beside the point. How did Pokemon come about? They mostly evolved from Mew, which as you researchers know, has the genetic code of practically every Pokemon in existence. If there are to be Pokemon from outer space, there must be Mew living in outer space, but we don't definitively consider Mew to be extraterrestrial now, do we? Astronauts have never encountered one in that big vacuum. Since there's no proof Mew has ever existed in space, being observed to only live on this planet, there's no way it coud evolve into Pokemon that originate from space."

Rory scratched his head. "So aliens don't exist, but there are Pokemon that _could_ come from outer space?"

"In a nutshell, yes." replied Daniel.

The Doctor began to clutch his sides as he struggled to keep his laughter in check, but eventually succumbed to the urge and degenerated into a one-man laugh riot. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NO ALIENS! EHEHEHEHEHEHE! SPACE IS EMPTY! BWAHAHAHAHA! THERE ARE POKEMON THAT COME FROM OTHER WORLDS REGARDLESS! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

Amy groaned. "Just ignore him, Daniel. He's really _passionate_." The Scottish woman stuck out her leg and gave the Time Lord a swift kick on the middle of his left shin, right on the bruise, causing him to collapse to the floor, tightly gripping the affected area.

"OW! That hurt, Pond!" whined the Doctor.

"Well, that's fine then! You were laughing like a maniac!"

"I am a maniac!"

Daniel turned to Rory. "Is it always like that with you three, Rory?"

The nurse massaged his temples. "Compared to most times, this is tame."

Daniel chuckled. "You must lead a pretty charmed existence."

Rory sighed. "You don't know the half of it, Daniel."

"Well, this is awkward, to say the least."

Rory strode over to the Doctor and pulled the Time Lord to his feet, finding an unusual mixture of slight amusement and undue pity for his companion. "You okay, Doctor?"

Despite his predicament, the Time Lord chuckled. "That woman has quite the kick. I'd say you made the right choice, Rory."

"Ummm, good to know, I suppose. What's next?"

Daniel led them down a corridor, before halting at the skeleton of a large, bipedal, winged dragon-like creature, erected on a smooth display stand. "Now this is the skeleton of a Dragonite, the largest recorded in the world. There are no Dragonite in Unova nowadays, but this skeleton suggests a former range here." The Doctor's only response was an impressed whistle. "Shall I take you to our main attractions?" A few nods of agreement served as the cue by which Daniel took to follow up on his question. Minutes later, they found themselves at a large display area filled with various artifacts unearthed at the Relic Castle. Technicians buzzed around in a manner akin to Combee, as they rushed to finish their job of preparing the exhibition before the opening later that day. "This is our main attraction, the artifacts our recent expedition to the Relic Castle recovered. I can assure you, it wasn't easy digging into the basements of the ruins. It's just about all that remains of the royal palace. And we still haven't gotten down to the deepest areas yet. There's still rocks and debris blocking our access, which would take a long while to clear. Anyway, a little history lesson. Unova wasn't always a united kingdom, just a bunch of loose principalities, estates, and fortified settlements. The king that came before the princes only governed the largest and richest of them, what would eventually become Castelia City, which was situated in the center of the region, where the Relic Castle is today."

Continuing onwards, Daniel led the group into the antechamber to a larger display area, the center of which had a large display stand with a giant brown rock set on it. Petrified into the rock's surface was the image of a large insect-like creature with an expression of terror on its features. The creature was bipedal with an oval head and had two thin arms, each ending in a sharp point. It also had a pair of broad legs jutting from a narrow abdomen. On the far wall behind the rock were two framed oil paintings. The one to its left depicted a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties with combed back blonde hair, dressed in regal robes. Perched on the man's right shoulder was a small, rodent-like creature with a yellow body and large, round blue eyes. A pair of small wings were attached to the backs of its legs. Its head was topped with an orange V-shaped crest across its large pointed ears, and its hands and feet were also orange. The portrait to the right of the rock featured a man with the same appearance and similar regal robes as the one in the other portrait, except for his dark hair. Behind him to his left stood the creature whose likeness was displayed on the rock itself.

Rory pointed at the rock. "That's a fossil too, right? Blimey, what a giant insect."

"Indeed, and I found that beast myself just outside the Relic Castle. That is the fossil of the Legendary Pokemon Genesect. More precisely, as you can tell from the portrait to the right, it's the Black Prince's Genesect. Genesect as a species were thought to have gone extinct 300 million years ago, but very early on in his reign, the Black Prince somehow managed to find one that was still living centuries ago, which he dubbed 'the last Genesect'..." The Doctor felt his grasp on reality slip and found an image in his mind making its presence known.

_Standing near the door of a throne room, a man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties stared at another man who shared his appearance except for a head of dark hair. The other man casually sat at his throne and had his arms crossed. The blonde haired man diverted his attention to the creature that was standing behind the seated man, a look of confusion upon his features. The creature held to its mouth what appeared to be a bone, and was roughly biting chunks of flesh from it. "So that was what you called me in here for. What in the name of Gallifrey is that?"_

_The dark haired man turned his head to stare at the creature before facing the other man again. "That would be a Genesect."_

_"I thought they told us before we arrived here that these things were extinct."_

_"They are, or at least, they are supposed to be."_

_The blonde haired man gave the other man a suspicious glance. "Where did you find it?"_

_"Not here." The dark haired man briefly contemplated his words before continuing. "Well, technically here, just not in this time. Get what I mean?"_

_The blonde haired man cupped his chin for a minute before he understood what the other man meant. "The rental TARDIS..."_

_The dark haired man gave the other man a condescending stare. "Took you long enough to figure it out."_

_The blonde haired man gave the bone Genesect was gnawing on a closer examination, recoiling in slight horror when he caught sight of what it terminated in. "Is that a human arm?"_

_"How observant you are. Genesect are known to be very skilled and ruthless hunters, you know."_

_The blonde haired man gasped. "You sent it into town to kill a peasant?"_

_"Oh, no. By golly, you do jump to some odd conclusions."_

_"Then where did the arm come from?"_

_"Oh, you know that thief I had executed yesterday? For stealing a loaf of bread?"_

_"He was poor and trying to feed his starving family! That was too much!"_

_"Who cares?" The blonde haired man frowned. "Except for you, that is." The dark haired man rolled his eyes as the other man continued to frown. "Okay, and his precious family. Well, that is a quick way to dispose of the body."_

_"You had him executed just so you could feed your new Pokemon, eh?"_

_"I could deny that, but I would be lying."_

_"It was bad enough that you had him executed, now you are deriving his family of a proper burial!"_

_"Once again, who cares? Do not get your knickers in a knot, they can have the bones once Genesect here is done with them." A feeling of utter defeat washing over him, the blonde haired man sighed and left the chamber._

The Doctor found his ears rejoining Daniel's words as the image faded from his attention. "That fossil has now led to speculation that the species may not be extinct after all. Or if that Genesect you see in front of you is truly the last one, as many researchers believe, well, the species is now extinct, of course."

Amy stared suspiciously at the Genesect fossil. "Wait, that Pokemon died centuries ago, right? Then how did it become a fossil? Don't they take millions of years to do that?"

The Time Lord answered the woman's question, reliving Daniel of that duty. "Not necessarily, Pond. Fossils can form very, very, very quickly. In fact, it's practically a requirement that they do so. In order for dead organisms to even stand a chance at becoming fossils, they must die in water and be buried in sediments deposited by rivers and streams. And for best results, that must happen almost instantaneously. You don't want predators consuming the flesh or otherwise disturbing the body, that interferes with _if_ and _how_ it's buried, and inevitably affects how well-preserved your fossil is. Prolonged exposure would cause the body to decompose, and the elements may scatter parts of it, and you don't want either of those issues happening. Anyway, fossils form because minerals brought by the river in sediments managed to seep into the bones of the organism or an impression it left behind, and turn it into rock as pressure is placed on the layers of sediments. Heck, even shoes and hats can be fossilized in a very short period of time if they are buried and minerals somehow managed to seep into them."

"So how did Genesect die?"

"Crushed by a shower of stones and masonery from the destabilized castle due to the fighting between the two dragons of Unova shortly after they were created. Explains the expression of terror on its face. The area's a desert now because the most intense fighting between the dragons happened there. Turned the whole ecosystem upside down."

Daniel nodded. "Yes. But the area didn't desertify immediately. There was once a fast flowing river used as a water source just outside the castle, and researchers believe that Genesect's corpse fell out of the building as it collapsed, and into the river, where it was moved a short distance by the current and quickly buried under river sediments. The dragons caused the area to dry out, and eventual desertification resulted. But before it fully dried up, there was enough time for the river to continue piling up the sediments on the body, and the minerals to seep in. Once the area became a desert, more and more sand just continued to be added, and the sediments around the body became stone, turning it into that fossil in front of you. The desert conditions and lack of activity in the area afterwards helped to keep the fossil dry after that, protecting it from damage until it was found nicely preserved. By me, if I may add. Having the last Genesect in his possession allowed the Black Prince to declare it a Legendary Pokemon, and that title was probably deserved, since it frequently stood its ground against another Legendary Pokemon, occasionally defeating it."

"Which Legendary Pokemon was it?" asked Rory.

Daniel turned his gaze to the portrait to the fossil's left. "Based on that portrait, we recently discovered it to be Victini, also known as the Victory Pokemon, and it belonged to the White Prince. It is said that anyone who possess it is guaranteed to win at anything he sets his mind to. It did have the ability to share its energy with others to revitalize them. We still haven't determined how the White Prince met and managed to obtain Victini though. There are some documents we are transcribing that may shed light on that question however." The Doctor found a small smile gracing his features as his mind produced a long buried image.

_The man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties hiked deeper into a forest, his right hand grasping his sheathed ivory-white bladed claymore to help him in that endeavor. A Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott trotted behind him, keeping with his steady pace. The blonde haired man frowned as he muttered to himself. "Bringing a Genesect here like that... Sometimes he acts as if he runs the whole show by himself... What kind of diarchy is this, hmmm?"_

_"Sni."_

_"Te."_

_"Osha."_

_"I suppose you lot are right. No point in mooning about this. The two of us are in this together after all. Oh well, just focus on what we came hiking in here for. Enjoyment." The blonde haired man set his claymore down and rested his frame against a nearby tree. Reaching into his pack, he retrieved a basket which he opened to reveal an assortment of cakes and pastries. He held out the basket to his Pokemon, each of them taking a treat for their own consumption. The blonde haired man took a small piece of cake for himself, setting aside the basket. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide, intending to consume the cake in one bite. Before he could do so, the cake levitated from his hand due to a seemingly invisible force, before disappearing in a few small invisible bites. The man's Pokemon widened their eyes at the sight and tried to warn their Trainer, but were too late as, oblivious to the disappearance of his cake, he brought his teeth down on his fingers. "OW! What in the world? Where did my cake go?" Before he could think further into the matter, an apple fell from the tree he was resting under, hitting him square on the head. "OW!" He held the fruit in his hand with a shrug. "Hmmm... Might as well eat it and save myself from having to grab another cake." He turned to his Pokemon as he munched on the fruit. "So, did any of you see what happened to my cake?"_

_The blonde haired man's Tepig nodded. "Pig. Te. Te. Pig. Pig. Pig. Te."_

_"Oh? Someone invisible did it?"_

_"Te."_

_"Well, I hope whoever it was enjoyed it then." _

_The blonde haired man stood up as a sound echoed in the distance. "Tini..."_

_He turned to his Pokemon. "Did you hear something?" They shook their heads in confusion, causing their Trainer to scratch his head. "Oh well. Now, how about some training?" He received nods of agreement from his Pokemon. He pointed to a tree standing a short distance away. "Okay then, let's start with you, Oshawott. Use Water Pulse on that tree." A ball of water appeared between the Sea Otter Pokemon's hands before he shot it at the intended target. The attack sailed through the air, narrowing missing the tree and disappearing into the distance. A loud splash was enough proof that it suceeded in hitting something. "Oops... Guess we should work on our aim. Try again, Oshawott." Oshawott nodded and formed another ball of water, this time flinging it forward. Unfortunately, the Sea Otter Pokemon had miscalculated the angle of his throw, and the attack took a sharp incline diagonally upwards into the tree's leaves, a smack reverberating throughout the distance. "Hmmm... You were supposed to hit the tree's trunk, Oshawott. Let's try agai..." The blonde haired man was cut off as a primate-like creature fell from the tree's leaf cover and onto the ground. It was primarily green in color with a yellow face, torso, hands, and feet. It had a bush-like crest on top of its head, a long tail tipped with leaf-like features, and white eyebrows. It also had white turfs of fur on the sides of its neck. The creature stood up and glared at the man, who immediately noticed that it was drenched. "Oh. A Simisage. You must have accidentally hit it with your attack, Oshawott."_

_"Wott."_

_The blonde haired man chuckled sheepishly. "Well, better do something. Uh yes, Simisage? Sorry about that. We were just training and really had no idea you were up there. So if we could just put all this behind us and..." The blonde haired man realized that reasoning with the Thorn Monkey Pokemon was pointless as it began to charge at him. He turned to his Pokemon. "Okay, run!" He took off in a sprint, followed by his Pokemon, as they tried to outrun the enraged Simisage. Tearing through the forest growth and up a steep incline, they eventually found themselves at the edge of a cliff overlooking a rapid river. The blonde haired man stared at the advancing Thorn Monkey Pokemon. "Sigh. We either have to jump or fight." The rocks below Tepig's feet began to give way as the Fire Pig Pokemon found himself sliding off the cliff. A shriek alerted the man, who wasted no time in leaning over the rocky ledge and grabbing Tepig by his tail. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the Simisage stamped its feet, causing more rock underneath him to crumble. The man's eyes widened as he slid off the cliff, his arms around his Tepig, quickly noting that they had an appointment with the river below. Halfway through his descent, he felt a surge of power emanate within him, a faint red glow surrounding himself and his Tepig. Instinctively, the blonde haired man kicked his legs outward at the cliff face. Upon contact with the rock, he found himself floating slowly through the air downwards and away from the cliff, eventually coming to rest at a river bank. "Well, that was odd."_

_Tepig nodded in agreement. "Te. Tepig."_

_"Now to get back to the others. We cannot just leave them to fight a Simisage by themselves."_

_"Pig."_

_As the blonde haired man attempted to figure out a quick path back to the top of the cliff, he heard a faint voice. "Tini..."_

_Tepig perked up. "Tepig!"_

_The blonde haired man cupped his chin. "So now you hear it too, eh? Hmmm..." Before he could further probe into the matter, a vision appeared in his head of a route through the forest from his location, leading to the cliff top. "Did you see that in your head as well, Tepig?"_

_"Te. Tepig!"_

_"Somehow, I feel compelled to trust what I just saw. Let's go." Followed by his Tepig, the blonde haired man took off into a run, embarking on the route he was mentally given, noting the landmarks he saw to be identical to his mental picture. He quickly reached the location where he had left his claymore and basket of treats, and to his surprise, found his Snivy and Oshawott waiting. He stared at them in surprise. "How did the two of you get past that Simisage?"_

_"Osha. Osha. Wott. Osha. Wott. Oshawott. Oshawott. Wott. Wott. Osha. Wott."_

_"Vy. Sni. Sni. Snivy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Vy. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Vy."_

_"You both felt an incredible surge of power within yourselves which allowed you to knock out the Simisage in two hits? Did you glow red for a second?" The Pokemon nodded. "I see. And then what happened?"_

_"Wott. Wott. Wott. Osha. Oshawott. Osha. Wott. Osha."_

_"Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni. Vy. Snivy. Sni."_

_"You heard a faint voice and received visual instructions in your head to come here. Looks like someone deserves our thanks. Now where could it be?" The blonde haired man cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Wherever you are, thank you!" He reached for the basket and opened it. "But how about you show yourself so we can thank you properly?" Silence resonated throughout the forest. "I know you are here by the way!" He shrugged as the silence continued, removing a cake from the basket with a sly smirk. "Well, no point in letting this go to waste. Might as well eat it." He moved to pop the cake into his mouth, but before he could, a small creature appeared in front of his face with a panicked expression. The blonde haired man smiled to his Pokemon, realizing the success of his little plan. "Hello there. You saved our skins, did you not?"_

_The creature nodded with a smile. "Victini!"_

_"But you did cause me to bite my hand. Which I admit was sneaky of you. But thanks for the apple, which, if I may add, you dropped on my head. If I may say, I might do that to influence a physicist one day, so thank you for the idea." The creature began to chuckle at its act. "Though I must chastise myself for my own stupidity, which allowed that Simisage to go after us." The blonde haired man's Pokemon immediately shook their heads. "No, it was my fault, and do not try to convince me otherwise. You gave Snivy and Oshawott the strength to defeat the Simisage and led us all back to each other, eh?" The creature nodded as the man held out the cake, prompting it to pick up the treat and proceed to eat. "Do you have a name, hmmm?"_

_"Victini!"_

_"Well, it is a real pleasure to meet you, Victini."_

The Doctor found himself returning to reality as Daniel spoke. "Well, regardless of how he met it, Victini became a friend to the White Prince for the duration of his reign. It moved into the castle too, and was known for its extreme playfulness. The White Prince somehow managed to invent many interesting and unique games with which to keep it occupied. I daresay that they were nothing like we've seen before. It wasn't easy inventing new games for Victini, it would master them in a short amount of time and then ask for something else to play. But a game that seemed to frequently capture its attention was one that used giant tablets of stone with unusual creatures carved into them. We're still figuring out how that game is played. Victini also became known for its enjoyment of sweets too." Daniel began to walk away from the Genesect fossil, prompting the others to follow. "Anyway, about two years after the princes came to power following their father's four year reign, they set about unifying all of the settlements."

"How did that come about?" asked Rory.

Daniel came to a stop at a framed map of Unova printed on brown parchment. Wrinkles and creases on its edges, coupled with some holes in it were evident signs of its age. Several lines, arrows, and annotations were inscribed upon its surface in black ink. "It was the Black Prince's idea. He said..." The Doctor drowned out Daniel's words as his mind began to wander.

_A sheet of parchment rolled up in his hand, the man with combed back dark hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties turned around to face another man who shared hs features, the only difference being the other man's blonde hair. "Why settle for the petty governance of a mere fort when we can have the whole of Unova under our thumbs?"_

_The blonde haired man crossed his arms, an expression of uneasiness upon his features. "What are you up to?"_

_"Look at us. Look at who we are. Look at what we have. Look at what we have been given. We're destined for more than this, you fool."_

_"You feel that you are entitled to more than you have, eh?"_

_"Considering what we are, I believe that gives us the right."_

_"What are you planning?"_

_The dark haired man unrolled his sheet of parchment on the countertop, a precise map of Unova inked with lines, arrows, and annotations. "Rather dull, you seem to be. I have it all planned out. And with that dragon of ours, this will be child's play. Think of the possibilities! We can share our wealth and prosperity with the rest of Unova! And in time, the rest of the planet will be united under our banner as the greatest empire to exist." _

_"There are no possibilities! You have no intention of sharing anything! You just want more territory to fulfill your ideals and spread your image around. Is that not the truth, hmmm? No more talk of this! This is the last I want to hear about it!" The blonde haired man turned his back on the other man and sauntered away, leaving the dark haired man to glare at his retreating back._

The Doctor shook the image from his head as Daniel continued. "And that is the map which the Black Prince used to plot all of his conquests and goals. As you can probably tell, he succeeded."

"Without the White Prince's permission, I suppose?" asked Amy.

"Yes, that night, while everyone else was sound asleep, the Black Prince simply gathered up half of his settlement's army and the dragon he shared with his brother, and left. By the time the White Prince woke up and discovered what his brother did, it was too late for him to stop the Black Prince. So he could only watch helplessly as his brother charged through and conquered the other lesser kingdoms comprising Unova, wrecking destruction and devastation in his wake. The conquests were all a fairly easy task for the Black Prince."

Rory continued to stare at the Black Prince's map of Unova. "What makes you say that?"

"Because the Black Prince had that dragon under his control. This dragon would eventually give rise to two Legendary Pokemon of equal power, and they were both regarded as Unova's most powerful Pokemon. Just based on that fact alone, you can imagine the sheer power the single dragon itself possessed. The other settlements didn't stand a chance. It took only minutes for their defenses to be utterly obliterated. In about a year, the whole region was under the Black Prince's control. And I must say, he collected some rather grisly trophies." Daniel pointed at a display case containing a several human skulls of varying sizes, all of which had a distinct yellowed hue. Rory and Amy cringed at the sight of a common feature shared by all of the skulls. The forehead of each sported a large circular indentation, with thin cracks radiating outward to show where the bone had caved in. "These were the skulls of the people who governed the other lesser kingdoms of Unova, when the Black Prince came charging at their doors. He showed absolutely no mercy, and killed entire governing families, even if they surrendered. To him, sparing them meant a potential threat that could later rise up against him. His style of execution was quite distinct, bash them in the forehead with the pommel of his claymore, and if that didn't kill them, then the decapitation that followed, did. He fed the bodies to the dragon and kept the heads as souvenirs afterwards. As you can see, he slaughtered them whether they were babies or the elderly. Needless to say, when he returned, his brother had some choice words for him." The Doctor massaged his temples as another buried image in his mind surfaced.

_The man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties narrowed his eyes as he stared out from a castle balcony at the assembled army below, who was in the process of celebrating a recent military triumph. _

_His solitude was soon shattered as a voice spoke out from behind him. "And you said there were no possibilities?" He spun around to face the speaker, another man who shared his appearance, the only difference being his dark hair color. _

_The immediate observation the blonde haired man made was that the other man held a brown sack in his right hand. "What have you done?"_

_The dark haired man chuckled. "Why, I conquered all of the settlements, you dense fool. Unova is ours now."_

_"I know that! This was never supposed to happen! How dare you invade the rest of the region!" _

_The dark haired man smirked. "Oh, I dare. And anyone who stood in my way paid dearly." He opened his sack and turned it upside down, spilling a large quantity of human skulls on the floor. One rolled for a second before coming to rest at the blonde haired man's feet, prompting him to pick it up and notice the large circular indentation on its forehead, shared by all of the other skulls. "Oops."_

_The blonde haired man closed his eyes for a second as his mind studied the features of the skull in his hand. "This is the skull of a child... A girl. Probably around fifteen to twenty years of age." He opened his eyes and faced the other man with a glare. "What did she ever do to you, eh?"_

_"Simple. She was in the way." The dark haired man chuckled. "I could ask her to move, but this is an easier alternative." The blonde haired man frowned at the morbid joke. "If you have such a problem, do something about it. Grant all those pathetic forts their freedom and independence again."_

_"Eh? You know full well that if I did that, they would not survive the next year! You have completely and utterly destroyed their governing figures, defenses, and important resources!"_

_"Exactly. Making them dependent on us, if they want to live. Clever, is it not? Now if you will excuse me, I have to celebrate my new empire. One day, the rest of the planet will follow." The dark haired man scooped up the skulls on the floor, returning them to his sack, before snatching the skull from the other man's hand. "These skulls would make fine decoration for my chamber." He turned and walked away, leaving the other man standing at the balcony with his back facing the view it offered. Without turning around, the blonde haired man let out a deep sigh and grasped the ledge of the balcony, lowering his head to stare at the floor._

Daniel's words forced the Doctor to shake the image from his mind. "And that's how suddenly, the White Prince found himself in charge of the entire Unova region. With little choice, he took to work administrating all the settlements as a large kingdom, distributing aid and assisting in reconstruction efforts. He gave them all new names as well, which have stuck to the present day. That was how _he_ unified the region."

The Doctor sighed. "Fits his reputation, I suppose."

Rory pointed at a nearby picture frame on the wall, inside which rested a sheet of parchment, browned with age. "Uh Daniel? What's this?"

"That would be a declaration of war against Unova."

"Oh? From who?"

"The Sinnoh region. Prior to the issue of that order, it was a close trade partner with Unova."

"What happened?" asked Amy.

"Before I can tell you that story, I have to tell you this one. The Unova region plays host to three Legendary Pokemon, collectively known as the kami trio." Daniel turned his head to stare at a pair of tapestries hung up on the wall nearby, both of which were adorned with gold trim. The right tapestry had a black background and depicted three creatures arranged in a triangular formation, all with the same body shape, that of a muscular humanoid male figure with yellow eyes and a white moustache, surrounded by a large white cloud at the waist. Long tails protruded from the back of the cloud, curling toward the front of their bodies. The man gestured at the creature at the triangle's lower left point. He had a green body with purple spots, two purple horns, and a purple tentacle-shaped tail with sepia swirled protrusions. "Tornadus, the Pokemon of the winds." Daniel's attention deviated to the creature on the triangle's lower right point. He had a blue body with purple spots, one purple horn, and a purple cord-like tail with black spiked sperical protrusions. "Thundurus, the Pokemon of lightning and thunder." The third creature, situated at the top center point of the triangle then received the man's gaze. He had an orange body with pink spots, three red horns, and brown branch-like tail with flat orange protrusions. "And Landorus, the Pokemon of fertility."

Daniel cleared his throat before he continued. "These three Pokemon held sway over the region's weather and agricultural output. Unfortunately, Tornadus and Thundurus were highly mischievous, and went all around the Unova region, causing stormy weather and ruining crops. Tornadus could travel at speeds of 200 miles per hour, and whip up storms with his tail, capable of blowing away houses. Thundurus could shoot thunderbolts from his tail, charring the land and making it inhospitable to crops. Not good for you as a farmer if the local Legendaries seem out to get you." Out of sight from his companions, the Doctor frowned at the tapestry, visibly tensing his frame.

Amy huffed. "They sound like a bunch of naughty boys who think they're all high and mighty, but desperately need a spanking. Maybe two."

"I wonder what they'd do if you said that to their faces."

"Oh they can bring it on. The Doctor will take care of them **(2)**. Right Doctor?"

The Doctor crossed his arms. "But of course. Who do you take me for, Pond?"

Rory scratched his head. "Actually, I think it would be better not to irritate the local wildlife, Amy."

The woman gave her husband a look of disbelief. "How can you say that? You heard Daniel describe them."

"I know, but what can you do about it?"

"You saw what we've done to those sniveling aliens that dared to mess with us over the past year."

Rory pointed at Tornadus and Thundurus' images on the tapestry. "I just think confronting them isn't a good idea."

"You think a lot of things are bad ideas."

"Isn't that reasonable? I think most people would agree with me."

"We're not 'most people', Rory."

"You're assistants are an interesting couple, Doctor." muttered Daniel.

The Doctor chuckled. "I would like to think so. Wouldn't do me any good if they were dull and boring, eh?"

Rory and Amy halted their conversation to stare at the Time Lord. "HEY!"

"Hmmm... Good to know you two were paying attention. Looks like you aren't so locked up in your own world after all." remarked the Doctor.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why, Pond. I thought you were a bright one. Might I be wrong?" The woman glared at the Time Lord, an expression that was matched by his smirk.

Daniel cleared his throat. "Okay then. Shall I carry on?"

Rory sighed, clearly desiring the cessation of the dispute between his companions. "Please do." He cast one more look at the tapestry. "The Pokemon of wind, lightning..." The nurse paused and scratched his head. "...and fertility."

Before anyone could react, the Doctor began to break out into song. "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn't belong. Can you tell me which thing is not like the others by the time I finish this song?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "You still watch Sesame Street, Doctor? That show..."

"...has a certain charm to it, Pond. Apparently, you don't think that's the case. Now I once visited Sesame Street. Lovely place, by the way... No, scratch that. It was a _very, very, very_ lovely place, and the monsters were so welcoming and fun. Pity you grew up, Pond." The Doctor paused for a moment. "Oh wait, you haven't. That settles it. First chance we get, we're all going to Sesame Street!"

"Doctor, I don't think that's necessar..."

The Time Lord waved his companion off. "Nonsense! It's _completely_ necessary! No need to thank me, I'm just helping you rediscover your lost childhood." Amy groaned in displeasure, a gesture which the Doctor failed to notice. "Anyway, none of you answered that question, so..." The Time Lord began to sing again. "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn't bel..."

Amy clenched her fists and shook in her shoes for a few seconds. "IT'S LANDORUS! NOW STOP SINGING THAT SONG!"

"Awww... You didn't let me finish my song!" whined the Doctor.

"Uh, Doctor? Isn't the idea to find the odd one out _before_ the song finishes?" asked Rory.

Daniel shrugged. "I don't mean to pry, but what's Sesame Street?"

Amy sighed. "Some kids' show the Doctor seems to be addicted to."

An offended look creased the Doctor's visage. "Oi! It's not just a kids' show! It's for adults too! Just like Pokemon, in fact."

"You keep telling yourself that, Doctor."

"Uh, how about we just carry on?" suggested Daniel.

Rory shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

"Now Landorus was different. The leader of the kami trio, he could decide whether the region's crops flourished or not, as his tail had the ability to seep nutrients into the soil and increase the size of the crops. Wouldn't surprise anyone that a number of farmers built a shrine for him, known as the Abundant Shrine, leaving him offerings in hopes that he would pacify the mischief of Tornadus and Thundurus."

"Did he?"

"Well, it depended on how pleased he was with the populace at the time. Shortly after the princes united the region, two years to be exact, the Black Prince found a way to appeal to the Kami trio's troublemaking ways and use their powers to his advantage. He showed them the locations of Unova's farms, and instructed Tornadus and Thundurus to destroy the crops by using gale force winds and thunderstorms to tear up and scorch them."

Amy gasped. "But that's horrible!"

"Indeed it was. The Black Prince requested protection money from the farmers, and when they paid, he would send Landorus to regrow their crops,_ if he was feeling generous_."

"So even if the farmers paid up, the Black Prince might _still not_ ensure their crops are regrown?"

"Exactly." The Doctor sighed quietly as a mental image made its presence felt in his mind.

_A large crowd of peasants stood in front of the castle, underneath a balcony. A few seconds later, a herald walked onto the structure, unrolling a scroll. "You farmers had best be thankful. The Black Prince has agreed to grant you all an audience." _

_The herald rolled up his scroll and stepped aside, lowering the front of his frame in a slight bow as the man with combed back dark hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties walked out and leaned over the balcony's railing, staring down at the crowd. The Black Prince narrowed his eyes. "What do you common peasants want?"_

_Sensing that the Black Prince's patience was dangerously thin, a farmer spoke up, direct to the point. "Please sir, have mercy on us and bring back our crops! We have many mouths to feed and our families are starving!"_

_"Oh, are you people still on about this? Landorus will regrow your crops once I receive payment from you as described."_

_"But sir, I beg of you, my family needs this food or we will starve! Our livelihood depends on it!" Murmurs of agreement resonated throughout the crowd as the Black Prince glared._

_"Oh, your crops will return alright, once you lot pay up." The Black Prince pointed in the direction away from the castle. "Now begone!"_

_"But please, sir..."_

_"Are you all still here? Very well then. Tornadus, Hurricane!" The Cyclone Pokemon descended from the sky above the castle, glaring down at the assembled crowd. The Black Prince smirked as Tornadus raised his tail and pointed it at the crowd. The Cyclone Pokemon spun his tail in a clockwise direction, quickly generating white swirls of wind around it in a matter of seconds. The swirls grew in size and merged into a circular vortex of air, a tropical cyclone. Tornadus reared his tail back and flung it forwards, hurling the cyclone at the mass of people. Escape seemingly futile, they cowered to be as close to the ground as possible to avoid being sucked into the vortex of air descending towards them. Before the cyclone could reach the people, an Emboar dashed forward, sliding to a halt in the space between them and the attack. The Mega Fire Pig Pokemon dug his feet into the ground, attempting to resist the pull of the cyclone, but was lifted into the air toward the attack's center. The vortex spun for a few seconds, swinging its quarry around before it dispersed, flinging the Emboar several meters into the air towards the castle walls. The Mega Fire Pig Pokemon smacked painfully into the stone battlements, sliding down them towards the ground in a heap. Swirly eyes was enough proof to show that the Emboar was now unconscious._

_A voice shouted out from behind the Black Prince. "RUN!" The crowd did not need to be instructed twice, and hastily dispersed, fleeing the scene before Tornadus could launch a second attack._

_The Black Prince frowned, turning around to see another man who shared his appearance, save for a head of blonde hair. The blonde haired man gritted his teeth. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF GALLIFREY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, HMMM?"_

_The Black Prince rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, a cue for Tornadus to leave the premises. The Cyclone Pokemon flew away as the Black Prince turned his attention to the blonde haired man. "Showing these people who is in charge, of course, oh 'glorious' White Prince. And what do you intend on doing about it?"_

_"Something. Just you wait."_

_"Oh, I'm trembling in my shoes."_

_"You better be."_

_"Consider yourself lucky that Thundurus is not able to fit in the castle."_

_"How 'shocking'." muttered the White Prince as he left the other man's presence._

The Doctor felt his mind reliving him of the image and tune him back to Daniel's comments. "Since there wasn't much the White Prince could do about the attacks on farmers' crops at the time, he spent large amounts of money from the royal treasury to import food aid from other regions, most of it coming from Sinnoh. Not very good for the economy, I can tell you, but the Black Prince practically weakened Unova's ability to be self-sustaining." Daniel pointed at another framed sheet of parchment. "This continued for about a year until the White Prince eventually signed a long-term trade agreement with Sinnoh for food imports. The king of Sinnoh thought of a possible alliance and as an act of goodwill, sent his son, the crown prince of Sinnoh, to Unova with a number of diplomats to finalize the agreement. Fearing what his brother may do, the White Prince kept knowledge of the matter from his brother. Needless to say, that didn't go well with the Black Prince when he found out about it."

Amy bit her lip, almost hesitant to discover the answer to her query. "What did he do?"

"Without the White Prince's knowledge, he secretly sent their dragon to intercept the party from Sinnoh. The minute they stepped onto Unova's shores, they caught sight of it and were attacked immediately. The crown prince of Sinnoh attempted to fight off the dragon, but he was no match for it, and quickly fell before its might." Daniel pointed at a display case which held a longsword with a handle wrapped in brown leather for grip. The long blade was of refined steel and highly polished, but ended halfway down in an abrupt manner with a jagged break. The other half of the blade was placed in the same display case a few centimeters down from the handle portion. "He used that sword to try and fight the dragon. Didn't do him much good. The dragon caught the blade in its jaws and snapped it clean in two. Not a single person or Pokemon from the party survived. To add insult to injury, the dragon devoured all the bodies, save for, as instructed by the Black Prince, the crown prince's head. The Black Prince has something _special_ in mind for it."

"Did he keep it?"

"No, the Black Prince sent it back to the king of Sinnoh, with a letter _thanking_ him for providing the dragon with a free meal. The broken sword he kept."

"That's absolutely disgusting and horrible!"

"You don't have to tell me. To say that the king of Sinnoh was furious is an understatement, as he immediately declared war on Unova, blaming the White Prince for what happened to his son, or at the very least, failing to protect what were supposed to be honored guests. Wanting to resolve the tense situation before it evolved into a serious conflict, the White Prince attempted to negotiate some form of peace agreement and compensation, to which the king of Sinnoh agreed to. Or should I say, pretended to agree to."

"He had something else up his sleeve."

"Yes. I think the White Prince was really very naive sometimes, as well as too trusting of others. The king of Sinnoh suddenly agreeing to diplomacy after such an incident sounded extremely fishy, but the White Prince desperately wanted to see the good in people, to the point where he often completely overlooked the bad. He agreed to meet the king of Sinnoh at the mouth of a forest on a secluded island off the shores of the southern portion of Unova's central peninsula, which is Castelia City's present day location. That island now plays host to the Unity Tower, a facility with keeps records of every Pokemon trade ever made. If you ask me, that's building's a white elephant."

"Why's that?" asked Rory.

Daniel threw his arms outwards in an animated manner. "The Unity Tower is a 131-floor skyscraper! Why anyone needs a building that big to hold a bunch of records is beyond me."

"Okay, so what happened between the White Prince and that king of Sinnoh?"

"The White Prince brought one of his Pokemon and a small group of soldiers along, but the whole arrangement turned out to be an ambush." The Doctor sighed as he closed his eyes, a distant image emerging.

_A Samurott by his side, the White Prince walked up to the pre-arranged meeting place on the island, with a small party of soldiers behind him. He stopped as he reached the mouth of the forest, noticing an elderly man with a bushy beard in purple silk robes, which he identified as the king of Sinnoh. The other monarch spoke. "Ah, good to see you, White Prince."_

_The White Prince held up his hands in a gesture of goodwill. "Please, I just want to avoid any trouble."_

_The king of Sinnoh tilted his head slightly. "Oh, there is no trouble at all."_

_"What? But your son is dead!"_

_"I am sure we can come up with a reasonable compromise, if you know what I mean..." Before the White Prince could react, two soldiers from Sinnoh lunged forward out of the nearby bushes, each grasping one of his arms. The soldiers around him moved to defend him, but they and their Pokemon were quickly overwhelmed by a larger number of Sinnoh's forces, who jumped from their hiding place in the forest. Not wanting to risk hurting his Trainer by attacking the soldiers holding him, the White Prince's Samurott drew one of his swords, and instead charged at the king of Sinnoh, kicking aside two of the enemy soldiers. The Formidable Pokemon came to a halt, resting the point of his sword against his quarry's chest. A bit more pressure on his part would have been enough to drive the blade straight into the man's heart._

_One of the soldiers holding the White Prince raised a dagger to his throat. "Tell that Samurott to back away, or your life ends."_

The Doctor mind stopped the image as Amy spoke. "So what happened next? The White Prince is held at knifepoint, his Samurott is pointed a sword at the king of Sinnoh's heart. It sounds like one of those dramatic prolonged standoffs you see in the movies."

"The White Prince told his Samurott to back off. Not because he was scared for his life, he felt personally responsible for the whole mess and just didn't want to see any sort of bloodshed. Additionally, he had a plan." The Doctor felt his mind continuing the image from where it left off.

_The White Prince closed his eyes. "Samurott, stand down." The Formidable Pokemon looked between his captive and his Trainer for a minute, before reluctantly sheathing his sword and slowly walking backwards, away from the man he had just released. As he retreated, the two soldiers holding his Trainer walked forward towards the king of Sinnoh. _

_The king of Sinnoh glared at the White Prince's soldiers. "Tell your other master that if he wants to see his brother alive again, he had better pay up, to the sum of a million gold pieces. Now let us be off." He turned around and left for a waiting boat nearby, his men and the captive White Prince in tow._

Rory scratched his head as he faced Daniel. "Wait, you said that the White Prince had a plan? He just let himself get captured! Or was that part of the plan?"

Daniel simply gestured to a framed sheet of parchment. "It was part of his plan."

"What's that?"

"The Black Prince's reply to the king of Sinnoh's ransom demand. A month and a half after it was sent, the White Prince reappeared mysteriously back at the castle. He was known to have escaped, but wouldn't tell anyone how he did so. First thing he did when he returned was go straight to his brother." Behind his companions, the Doctor found his mind wandering, an image making its presence felt.

_The door to the study swung open as the White Prince stormed in. At the desk was the Black Prince, whose attention was occupied by the text on a scroll. The Black Prince addressed the new arrival without even looking up. "I see you have returned."_

_The White Prince forced himself to keep a straight face, despite his current emotions. Striding up to the desk, he flashed a sheet of parchment in front of the Black Prince's face. "Did you tell them that they could 'keep me', hmmm?"_

_The Black Prince scanned the parchment for a second. "That does resemble my handwriting."_

_"Eh? That resembles your handwriting because it IS your handwriting!"_

_The Black Prince ignored the other man's outburst. "So how bad was it?"_

_The White Prince slammed the parchment on the table. "They were planning on executing me because of your letter!"_

_The Black Prince chuckled. "Why, that would be a 'great' tragedy. Besides, it is not such a big deal to you, is it? You will simply regenerate. Besides, you have twelve more lives to live."_

_"And you did not bother to pay a ransom, hmmm?"_

_"What was the point? I knew you would get out of there somehow, one way or another."_

_"The thought would have been appreciated."_

_"And waste the precious gold in the treasury?"_

_"You encourage Tornadus and Thundurus to destroy the farmers' crops! And then force them to pay exuberant sums as protection money before you get Landorus to grow their produce back, but only if you're feeling 'generous'! Small wonder I have to 'waste' the gold to import food. If you did not start this mess, this conversation would not be occurring right now!"_

_The Black Prince shrugged. "So what? The farmers despise me."_

_"Eh? That would be your problem."_

_"And how did you get out?" The White Prince pulled out a tubular device, apparently crafted from wood, terminating in a cone. A blue light protruded from the end of the cone. The dark haired man rolled his eyes. "Of course. Makeshift sonic screwdriver, one of the first things you learned how to craft." The White Prince muttered a few inaudible words under his breath, pocketing the device. He turned his back on the other man and made for the door. "Where are you off to?"_

_"To my chamber, to get a nice, long, rest."_

The Doctor shook the image from his head when Rory pointed to a display case, posing Daniel a question. "What is that thing over there?" The display case in question held a curious tubular device with a wooden feel to it. The end of the tube was topped with a wooden cone, the point of which had a small blue glass bulb attached.

Daniel shrugged. "I have no idea. Apparently, it belonged to the White Prince, but no one has been able to discern its function."

The Doctor looked at the object in the display case, a small smile upon his features, as he was left to think. _"Unfortunately, those things burn out and become non-__functional_ within a short period of time."

Daniel continued to talk. "Anyway, suffice to say, the mood between the brothers was rather tense for a very long while. During that time, with assistance from the kami trio, the Black Prince appeared to hold a great monopoly over Unova's food production. While the White Prince was imprisoned in Sinnoh, the rural settlement of Lacunosa Town attempted to rebel because of it, but the Black Prince quashed that attempt fairly quickly and easily, slaughtering the entire population. Soon after, the White Prince returned, and was left by his brother to handle to cleanup. Most of the bodies were eaten by the dragon, leaving just the bones. Left an indelible mark on the town too. The dragon soared down on it like a meteorite, crashing into the forest nearby. The impact alone was enough to almost wipe it off the map. The massive impact crater created by the dragon became known as the Giant Chasm, which is now home to the Legendary Pokemon Kyurem, believed to be the dragon's reanimated corpse. It took a long while to repopulate, but Lacunosa Town now has large walls and a strict curfew because Kyurem apparently snuck into town in the old days and took away people and Pokemon to eat. Although many doubt the legend nowadays, those that believe it say Kyurem chose to live there and consume people and Pokemon because that was part of its past memory from the original dragon, which the Black Prince taught it. And that's where the legend of Kyurem landing on the planet in a meteorite came from."

Amy looked at a display case between the two tapestries, which contained a board game that appeared to be familiar to her. "How horrible. By the way, is that a chessboard?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, the pieces are fine ivory and ebony too. Both princes were very fond of that game, and frequently played against each other. That helped to increase its popularity in Unova too." The Doctor sighed as his mind wandered yet again.

_The White Prince sat at a table as he stared down at a well-placed game of chess. Picking up a white pawn, he moved it forward one space on the board, before raising his head slightly to face his opponent across the table from him. "Did you enjoy yourself at Lacunosa Town, hmmm?"_

_The Black Prince laughed before he captured one of his opponent's bishops with a black rook. "You tell me, my Pokemon and I slaughtered all of them. Personally."_

_"Your Pokemon including the dragon?"_

_"My Pokemon including the dragon." While the Black Prince spoke, the other man paused to move his white queen diagonally to the end of the board, capturing a black knight. "Now how many of them did I..."_

_The White Prince sighed. "562 people and 1,942 Pokemon. The entire population, more or less."_

_The Black Prince chuckled. "Oh? You have been keeping a head count?" He cleared his throat, moving his other knight to its desired position on the board. "Check."_

_The White Prince swiftly captured the offending enemy knight with one of his own, depriving his opponent of both knights, and offering a temporary escape from his compromising situation. "You tell me, my Pokemon and I dug graves for all of them. Personally."_

_"Your Pokemon including the dragon?"_

_"My Pokemon including the dragon."_

_The Black Prince scoffed. "How touching. What will you do next? Light my funeral pyre?"_

_"Eh? I may very well have to, if this nonsense continues."_

_"Is that a threat?" The Black Prince moved his queen two spaces diagonally, capturing his opponent's other bishop. "Checkmate."_

_The White Prince stretched out his left index finger, using it to topple his king, signifying his loss of the game. The piece hit the board with a resounding thud, a reminder of the lack of ambient sound in the chamber. "Do you interpret it as a threat? By the way, you missed one." _

_The Black Prince's eyes widened. "What?"_

_"Ever wondered where that new servant girl came from, hmmm? Her name is Azmaria." The White Prince stood up from his chair and walked towards the door, casting a brief glance at the other man before walking through the doorway. Before he could reach the corridor, the Black Prince unsheathed an ebony-black bladed claymore and hurled it at his back, but the projectile failed to strike its target, due to the White Prince turning to his right and disappearing down the corridor. The Black Prince snarled as his claymore embedded itself in a hanging tapestry instead._

The Doctor was snapped out off his thoughts as Daniel cleared his throat. "Yep, the Black Prince was nasty. However, his brother did eventually find a way to break that headlock he placed on their kingdom."

Amy's face belied confusion. "How?"

"Think about it. Your brother has three Legendary Pokemon under his thumb to do his bidding, because they agreed with what his ideals. How do you as the White Prince, counter that?"

A wide smirk appeared on the Doctor's face, betraying his thought processes. _"Let's see if you can figure that one out, Pond."_

"I'd find some Legendaries and tell them the truth. 'Hey, my brother is planning on ripping the region apart, and your well-being will be shot if you don't do something about it.'"

"That's easier said than done, but it was basically what he did. Just not as rough." Daniel strolled up to the left tapestry, which had a white background and depicted three quadrupedal creatures arranged a triangular formation. "The Unova region plays host to another group of Legendary Pokemon, known as the musketeer trio." He stared at the creature at the triangle's top center point. It had a stag-like aqua-blue body with two yellow thunderbolt-shaped horns and jagged shoulder blades, a white turf of fur on its neck, a light blue face, lower legs and jagged tail, and black feet. "Cobalion is the leader, said to be able to make other Pokemon obey it with a single glare." He diverted his attention to the creature at the triangle's lower left point. It had a ox-like gray body with two brown horns, orange spikes jutting from its shoulders, a beige face, lower legs and underside, a black forehead and feet, and a stubby tail. "Terrakion is the strongest, capable of shattering castle walls in a single blow." The creature at the triangle's lower right corner then recieved Daniel's gaze. It had an antelope-like green body with two dull pointed horns, a pink-tipped leaf on either side of its neck, pointed lengths of fur on its shoulders and tail, a white face, underside and upper hindlegs, and black feet. "And Virizion is the most graceful, it could turn most enemies into confetti with a few slashes of its horns."

Daniel moved to straighten his bow tie before continuing. "This group made it their life's mission to protect Pokemon and their habitats from human exploitation. Due to the destruction caused by Tornadus and Thundurus to farmers' fields and Pokemon habitats, and the fact that they were allied with the Black Prince, the musketeer trio became reclusive, strengthening their resolve to protect Pokemon from humans, whom they viewed as tyrants. To them, the Pokemon under human ownership would starve because of what the Black Prince, a human, was doing. But the White Prince was different, he was the only human who managed to gain their trust. When the princes ruled over Unova, the musketeer trio lived in a forest known as the Moor of Icirrus, named after the nearby Icirrus City. That forest was a sanctuary for many wild Pokemon, as few humans ever traversed that area by order of the White Prince. What he did there with the Moor of Icirrus eventually laid the groundwork for the idea of nature preserves meant to protect Pokemon from poachers. Because of that, the White Prince made the musketeer trio believe that some humans could be trusted around Pokemon after all. As an extra incentive, the White Prince reminded them that their role was to protect Pokemon, and that included those owned by humans. By allowing the kami trio to control the growth of crops and wreck Pokemon habitats, they were putting wild and Trainer-owned Pokemon alike in harm's way. As a result, they allied themselves with him. Having Victini around certainly helped the White Prince's chances, since they recognized its power and knew that it must have a good reason for bonding with him."

Rory stared at a feature of the musketeer trio's tapestry that caught his attention. In its center was a large, left slanting diagonal tear, carefully stitched up with white thread. "What happened there?"

"That? The Black Prince threw his claymore at the tapestry, and it tore that hole right in the middle. He did it after a chess game against his brother."

"By the sound of that, I take it that he lost?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "What a sore loser."

Daniel shook his head. "No. Apparently, from what I heard, he won. Strange way to celebrate a victory, but the Black Prince wasn't exactly known for his sanity. Alternatively, it is possible that he simply hated the musketeer trio because of their alliance with his brother."

"What did they do?"

"They went around Unova intercepting planned attacks by Tornadus and Thundurus, occasionally succeeding in driving them away. There were some intense battles between the two groups, with each group managing to thwart roughly half of the other's schemes. But the destruction being cut down by half was enough for Unova's farmers to provide a reasonable amount food for the region's population, and decrease the need for food imports. Just as well, since Sinnoh, while it didn't follow through on attacking Unova due to the distance and threat of the dragon, cut off all trade. This was the way things went for the rest of the princes' reign."

Daniel brought the group forward before stopping at a small display case which held a circle of gold with a cross etched into both of its faces. Amy stared at the item in confusion. "What is that thing?"

Clearing his throat, Daniel began to speak. "Somewhere down the line, the White Prince learned to utilize aura, that mystical energy which comprises the life force of both humans and Pokemon. It exists in all of us, but only a few people can actually use it in a practical manner. Takes a lot of meditative training too. A firm belief in its principles on how sacred life is also helps one to focus on how it works. As a person's own life energy, aura which is whole and pure is a sign of good health and vigor on the part of its owner. People who aren't so healthy, well, their aura tends to be in a less 'full' state, put it that way. One way the White Prince used his aura was to heal people by transferring some of his aura to them, which reenergized them. He conducted several royal touching sessions from time to time for that purpose. Each time he conducted such a session, he became very exhausted due to the large amount of his aura he transferred to others to heal their maladies, and that was practically his life energy. One can only wonder how he didn't die from transfusing so much of his energy. He was basically draining himself of one of the vital things that keeps us alive."

The Doctor chuckled. "He just had a lot more to give."

"That's what a lot of people think. Those sessions became very popular with the masses, and hundreds, if not thousands of people flocked to them. In the rush to reach the White Prince, some were unfortunately trampled to death." The Doctor sighed as his mind recounted a buried image.

_The White Prince slumped in his chair under a tent as he saw a large crowd disperse and servants commencing a cleanup. Using his claymore for support, he grasped it by the pommel and staked it into the ground as he struggled to rise from his seat, only to fall forwards, dropping the sword. Before his body could hit the ground, a man's firm arms grasped his frame. "Easy there, sir. That session took a lot out of you."_

_The White Prince simply turned his head upwards to stare at the man. "Any casualties this time, Allen?"_

_"I regret to say that at least twelve people were killed trying to reach you first, sir."_

_The White Prince shook his head sadly. "How senseless and tragic. At that rate, they might as well stay at home and hope they get better."_

_"But you are the one that gives them hope, sir. You gave the whole of Unova hope in its darkest hours."_

_"A man can only do so much, my boy." The White Prince turned to stare at a Serperior who silthered up to him. "I need to rest now." The Regal Pokemon arched her head up and poked it under the White Prince's left arm, offering him a makeshift crutch. "Go help the other knights with the cleanup, Allen."_

_"But sir, you can barely stand!"_

_The White Prince picked up his claymore, using it to further support his frame. "I have Serperior's help."_

_Allen caught sight of a slim and fair-skinned woman in her early twenties, clad in a white dress. She had blue eyes and chest length brunette hair. "Azmaria, come over here and help the White Prince back to his chamber." The woman nodded and walked over, wrapping her arm over the staggering man._

_The White Prince attempted to protest. "This is really not necessa..."_

_Azmaria shook her head. "You gave up a lot of your energy to help others, sir. But what good are you if you cannot help yourself? I will take care of him, Allen." The man simply nodded, releasing his hold on the White Prince as he walked off to fulfill his instructions. _

_The White Prince lowered his head slightly as he allowed himself to be led away. "Thank you, Serperior, Azmaria."_

_"You are my prince, promise me that you will look after yourself at least."_

_"That is a promise I might find hard to keep, child, but I will try."_

_Azmaria nodded with a sigh as they entered the castle. "I suppose that is the most I will get from you."_

_"Well, that is who I am. I cannot stay still and rest. I have to find some purpose in my life. Do you not seek one as well?"_

_A blush crossed Azmaria's face, and she hastily turned away to prevent the White Prince from seeing it. "I do, sir. It seems that my purpose is her, as your humble servant. You took me in when your brother slaughtered my people."_

_"You are meant for greater things than this, child. As a matter of fact, everyone who works in this castle is."_

_The servant girl felt her blush intensify. "You really think so, sir?"_

_"Absolutely."_

_"But I still say that I have found my purpose here, to repay my debt to you through servitude."_

_The White Prince shook his head as they passed a corridor. "You do not owe me anything."_

_"I beg to differ. Without you, I surely would have died. I apologize if I cannot serve you any more than I am doing right now."_

_"Just as well I came along, eh? Remember, you have nothing to apologize for."_

_"But you are the reason I have my purpose! I was cold and alone, and you brought me here, sir! You gave me food and shelter! I have been so dependent on you and the other servants. I am nothing but a burden!"_

_The White Prince tightened his hold on his claymore slightly. Sensing this, his Serperior arched her head up further, raising his weary frame to slightly more than a slouch. "Not to me, Azmaria. You are most definitely not a burden, always trying to do things to the best of your ability, willing to continue working when most servants have gone to bed, putting up with my instructions and requests. If anything, I believe that I am burdening you with my position, especially since you would not be doing all this work if I am not the White Prince of Unova."_

_The servant girl furiously shook her head, trying in vain to diminish the red hue tinting her cheeks. "No, sir."_

_The White Prince tilted his head slightly to notice that he was at the door to his chamber. "Well, here we are." He was helped into his room and onto his bed. He set his claymore against the wall nearby._

_"Sleep well, sir."_

_"Thank you, Azmaria." The servant girl hastily averted her gaze from the man as she darted out the room before he could see how red her face had become, closing the door behind her._

_The White Prince stretched his frame out on his bed as he turned to stare at his Serperior, who had curled up on a carpet nearby. "Say Serperior, you do not regret giving your eggs to those boys, do you?"_

_The Regal Pokemon shook her head. "Perior. Ser. Ser."_

_"Good to know. I trust they will treated well. Samurott does not mind either?"_

_Serperior shook her head again. "Ser. Ser."_

_"Alright. By the way, I have noticed women giving me strange looks. They hold their hands to their chests and blink at me with those wide eyes. Sometimes, their faces turn an unusual shade of red. Do you have any idea what is their malady? I do hope it can be cured."_

_The Regal Pokemon chuckled. "Perior. Ser. Perior. Perior. Ser."_

_The White Prince huffed. "What do you mean by 'I am dense'?"_

_"Perior. Ser. Ser. Perior. Ser. Perior."_

_"What is there not to understand about women's feelings, eh?"_

_"Serperior. Ser. Perior. Ser. Ser. Serperior."_

_The White Prince shrugged. "A lot? If you say so..." He allowed himself to fall back onto the bed, quickly descending into sleep._

The Doctor cleared his mind of the image when Amy posed a question. "So what is that thing in the display case?"

Daniel nodded. "I was getting to that. It's a touch piece. After the chaos that erupted during some of his royal touching sessions, the White Prince eventually had these minted. He imbued each with a small portion of his aura and had the dragon and Victini deliver them to whoever needed healing. It was great symbolism too, since Victini is also thought to bring good luck to people. The patient just needed to hold the touch piece and focus on getting better. Works just as well too, and it reduced the crowd at future sessions. It was also less draining on him, since he could produce several touch pieces over a gradual period of time, instead of investing so much energy in one day to heal several people."

"How generous of him."

"Now take a look at this." Daniel stepped forward, pointing at a display case. Inside was a four-pronged hook connected to a strong cord of rope. "It's a grappling hook. About two years after the White Prince returned from Sinnoh, someone actually had the audacity to break into the castle and steal several valuables from the treasury."

"Did they ever find out who did it?"

"No, and that is one of the biggest mysteries around. Apparently, the story goes that the White Prince and a knight cornered the thief, and he or she fled, leaving behind the stolen items." The Doctor chuckled softly to himself as his mind wandered.

_A woman dashed through the corridors of the castle in the dead of night, away from its treasury, a burlap sack containing several valuables slung over her shoulder. Her heart pounded within her chest, as she heard the sound of clanking armor in the distance, realizing that the alarm had been raised. She darted into a corner, barely avoiding a passing knight. After he put a reasonable amount of distance between himself and her, she ran down the opposite direction, eventually reaching the window where a familiar grappling hook hung. Before she could grab the rope, she heard a man clear his throat and turned her head to see a knight standing in front of her. She gazed into his eyes, questioning why she could not look away. She also wondered why the knight simply stood still, making no effort to unsheathe his sword or approach her. Initially tense, she found herself relaxing slightly under his gaze. He turned to look at the window, an action she copied. Deciding not to wonder too deeply about the knight's curious behavior, she chose to make for the window and escape before more knights showed up. If he would stop her, so be it. Otherwise, she would slip away. She had little to lose at that point._

_Before her hand could touch the rope attached to the grappling hook, a Serperior's head darted directly into her vision, cutting off her access to the window, and quickly stunning her. The Regal Pokemon glared at the woman with a loud hiss, a forked tounge protruding from her mouth. Keeping a tight hold on her sack, the woman tried to back away from Serperior, tensing when her back bumped into a large mass. She dared to turn around slightly, immediately locking eyes with an Emboar, who looked down on her with a frown across his features._

_The knight widened his eyes in shock at the sudden appearance of the two Pokemon and tried to open his mouth and tell them to stop. Before he could do so, he felt his body being shoved aside into a wall by a strong arm. A Samurott lumbered forward past the knight. With a quick movement of his right hand, he unsheathed the sword on his left arm, rearing up on his hindlegs. He swiftly held the blade of keratin against the woman's throat. Noting the look of fear on the woman's face, the knight drew his sword and attempted to come to her aid, but the Formidable Pokemon unsheathed the sword on his right arm with his left hand and reached behind himself, stopping the knight's sword with a loud clang as the two blades made contact. The knight gritted his teeth and attempted to push the Samurott's sword aside with his blade, only to find that the Formidable Pokemon would not yield. The woman tried to draw in her neck slightly, realizing that a simple amount of pressure put on the blade by Samurott would slit her throat._

_A second later, the two humans and three Pokemon quickly turned to stare as a voice spoke out. "How cute." The White Prince stepped out of the shadows behind his Emboar, casting his gaze on the two people his Pokemon surrounded. "Alright, you three. Stand down."_

_Emboar stared questioningly at his Trainer. "Boar. Boar. Em. Em. Em?"_

_"No, I do not believe I have gone crazy. At least not this time around. But no, I am definitely not wearing my crazy face right now. Back away from the child." Samurott moved his blades away from the woman's neck and the knight's sword, resheathing them in their scabbards on his arms before dropping down to all four limbs again. "Serperior, Samurott, tell the other knights that I have searched this spot. Tell them that there is nothing here." Serperior shrugged and slithered away, followed by Samurott. The White Prince turned to his Mega Fire Pig Pokemon. "Make sure we are not disturbed." The Emboar nodded, turning his back to his Trainer and standing still. The White Prince chuckled. "I see you finally found yourself a woman, Allen. Going to settle down soon?" The blushes that crossed the faces of the two humans only served to intensify the White Prince's laughter. He turned to the woman. "Now who are you? Or should I refer to you as 'child', hmmm?"_

_The woman sighed softly. "I guess there is no place to run now. My name is Kayla."_

_"Lovely name." The White Prince gazed at the sack. "If you do not mind, I have some things to return to the treasury."_

_Kayla bit her lip. "Please wait."_

_"Hmmm?"_

_"I-I t-took all t-that g-gold from the t-treasury because my father is v-very ill, sir, and we b-barely h-have enough money. He is all the family I have left."_

_"You could simply bring him one of my royal touching sessions."_

_"What are those?"_

_"I would assume she is not from these parts, Emboar." muttered the White Prince to his Pokemon. Back still turned to the people around him, the Mega Fire Pig Pokemon simply nodded._

_"We recently moved here, sir." replied Kayla._

_Allen scratched his head. "Uh sir, do you not remember what happened the last time you had one of those?"_

_The White Prince sighed. "Yes, I know. Some people met their end tragically." Reaching into his pocket, he took out a circle of gold with crosses etched into both faces. He tossed the small item at Kayla, who caught it in her hands. "Tell your father to hold this and focus on getting better. If I recall correctly, that should work. But I am still going to have to tell your father about this. Expect a visit in one, no, two, hmmm... Maybe three days."_

_Kayla lowered her head slightly. "I understand, sir, and apologize for the trouble I caused."_

_"And if you require a job, we might have something for you. I believe a servant quit last week, eh?" _

_Kayla shifted her feet nervously. "Okay, I suppose I will consider it."_

_"Anyway, Allen, kindly escort Kayla out the door, if you please. And mind you do not get noticed." The knight nodded as he took the woman's hand, causing her to blush. The White Prince leaned against the wall as he saw them walk off down the corridor, chuckling to himself. "Ah, young love. Not that I can say much about it. Instead of chasing a woman, I spent my time crafting my first sonic screwdriver." He tapped his Emboar on the shoulder, pointing to the sack Kayla had left behind. "Would you mind bringing this back to the treasury, Emboar? If you ask me, I think trouble seems to follow me everywhere." The Mega Fire Pig Pokemon simply shrugged in response before lifting the sack. The White Prince walked off with his Pokemon to return the valuables before heading back to bed._

The Doctor was pulled back to reality as he stared at a display case Daniel led them to. It held a goblet, one half of which was white colored, while the other half was colored black. The surrounding display cases held dishware with a similar dual-colored design. "This cup, half ivory and half ebony, has two stories to tell, one for each prince, both of which occurred a few months before the end of the princes' reign. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Which happened first?" asked Rory.

"The White Prince's story."

"Let's hear it."

"Well, it was during a fairly normal drink the White Prince was having." The Doctor sighed as he let himself slip into the recesses of his mind.

_The White Prince sat at the dining table, a goblet in hand. The most distinctive feature about the cup was the fact that half of it was colored white, the other half black. He lifted the cup to his lips and took a small sip of wine._

_His calm was soon interrupted by a new presence in the room. "All these years, and yet you do not realize what that goblet is made from." The White Prince raised his head to notice the Black Prince standing in front of the table._

_"What are you talking about, hmmm?"_

_"Figure it out yourself." _

_Casting the other man a questioning glance, the White Prince stuck out his tongue and licked the surface of the cup, starting from the black side. "I taste ebony."_

_The Black Prince rolled his eyes. "The other side, you moron."_

_The White Prince frowned as he repeated the process with the white side, his eyes widening in shock. "Ivory. Pokemon ivory! I taste blood too! The Pokemon whose ivory was used to make the cup was slaughtered painfully!"_

_The Black Prince's eyes took on a sinister sheen. "It took you long enough to notice. And how many dishes like that goblet do we have? How much ivory do you think was required to make all of that? How many Pokemon had to die for their ivory? To think that ivory is being used to represent you."_

_"I did not ask for that!"_

_"No, but the court had to find the most expensive, best white material for the job."_

_The White Prince slammed the cup down on the table and held out his arms. Two softball-sized cobalt-blue spheres of energy quickly formed above his hands and began to swirl around his head. His eyes turned ivory-white as he drew his claymore and let out a bestial scream. The spheres of energy shot out in opposite directions from his body. One smashed into a cabinet, sending splinters of wood flying in various directions. The other hit a wall, impacting a sizable dent into its stone surface. The two spheres rebounded towards their progenitor as he stormed out of the room. _

_The Black Prince stared at the partially destroyed room and chuckled to himself. "Looks like aura can be destructive if channeled through rage."_

The Doctor's ears perked up as he listened to what Daniel had to say while dispelling the image. "It appears that the Black Prince deliberately told his brother about some of their items being half ivory just to egg him on and elicit some destruction out of him. The White Prince went on a rampage through the castle, and was so dangerous that even his Pokemon kept their distance, knowing that they would be seriously injured if they attempted to stop him." Another image soon appeared in the Time Lord's head as he sighed.

_The White Prince stormed through the corridors and chambers of the castle, the spheres of aura continuing to orbit his head, occasionally darting off in a random direction to slam into some fixture of the building. He held his claymore, swirls of cobalt-blue energy surrounding the ivory-white blade in a DNA helix-like form. Servants fled as they saw him approach. "Run, the White Prince has lost it!"_

_The royal council sat in their meeting chamber around an ornate table discussing recent matters, and were in for a rude surprise as a sphere of aura smashed through the door and shot forward, narrowly missing a the noble's head. The White Prince swung the pommel of his claymore at a weak point on the wooden structure, easily demolishing it before he aggressively entered the room. He gazed at the men and his features contorted themselves in a deep frown as the two spheres of aura around him turned white. He raised an arm, sending his other aura sphere crashing into the table. The council dived to the floor, trying to avoid injuries from the splinters of wood being showered upon them. He lifted his claymore, the swirls of energy around its blade having turned white. Having no place to run, the council stared in terror at his completely white eyes._

_Before he could make another move, Azmaria ran into the space between him and the hapless men. With a panicked expression, she gazed at the White Prince. "Please sir, calm down! This is most certainly not the sort of person you are! Do not do something you will regret! If not your people, what will your Pokemon think of you? You are not your brother!"_

_The White Prince tightened his grip on his claymore and squeezed his eyes shut. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head to stare at the floor. The sword fell from his hand as the swirls of energy around its blade disappeared. The spheres of aura returned to circle his head for a brief moment before they disappeared. He dropped to his knees and let out a few short pants as he massaged his temples. He opened his eyes, revealing that they have reverted to normal. "Thank you, Azmaria."_

_The servant girl blushed. "Any time, sir."_

_The White Prince glanced at the council. "I will have a word with you all later." He stood up and resheathed his claymore, walking out of the room._

The Doctor straightened his face as he left the image behind, moving to listen to Daniel. "The White Prince was planning to remove the usage of ivory, but there was little time to actually implement this, because he and his brother died shortly afterwards."

"So what's the Black Prince's story with this cup?" asked Amy.

"Oh, that happened shortly after the last one, and just like the White Prince, he was going to have a drink as well." A image appeared in the Doctor's head as Daniel continued to speak.

_The Black Prince shifted in his chair and cast a servant an apathetic glance as she placed the half white and half black goblet on the dining table. "What is this?"_

_The servant stiffened slightly, releasing her left hand from her serving tray and tucking it under her right arm. She rested her left hand on her stomach, a slight swell was beginning to show. "Your wine, sir, like you requested."_

_The Black Prince stared at the cup. "Do you see anything wrong?"_

_"No, sir."_

_"Well, I will tell you what is wrong. You served me the wine with the WHITE SIDE OF THE CUP FACING ME, you insolent tramp!"_

_"I apologize, sir!"_

_"Too bad." The Black Prince stood up abruptly, tipping his chair over. He jumped over the table with surprising agility, now facing the servant. He shot his left leg outward, digging the heel of his shoe straight into the servant's stomach. She crumpled to the floor, clutching her belly where he had just kicked her._

_Their attention was caught when a new voice shouted out in the room. "Kayla!" Another servant rushed into the room, running towards the downed woman._

_Kayla gasped as began to cough. "Stay back, Azmaria!"_

_The Black Prince smirked. "You should have listened to your friend." He drew his claymore and swung it back, smashing the sword's pommel into Azmaria's left cheek. A loud crack was heard as Azmaria brought her hand to cup her wounded cheek. The Black Prince stared at the injured servants before sheathing his claymore and walking out of the room._

The Doctor found the image slipping from his mental grasp when someone spoke. "That was horrible!" remarked Rory. "The White Prince did something about it, right?"

"You seem to assume that he can fix everyone's problems, Rory."

"Well, if he's this hero everyone makes him out to be, he _must_ have done something."

Daniel nodded. "Yes, he did."

"That's what I thought." The Doctor sported a sad smile as his mind brought up another image.

_The White Prince walked into the room and saw Kayla winching on the bed, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Azmaria sat nearby, her hand holding a damp cloth to her cheek. "My brother did this, did he not?" Azmaria simply nodded, cringing as pain shot up her face. "Hold still." The White Prince rested his hand on Azmaria's forehead, as it took on a cobalt-blue glow. He closed his eyes and focused. Azmaria's hand moved away from her cheek as she felt the searing pain subside and eventually disappear. The White Prince removed his hand from her forehead. "Better, hmmm?"_

_Azmaria nodded. "Thank you, sir."_

_"Just rest for a few days." He turned his attention to Kayla and held his arm out over her frame. Closing his eyes again, he intensified his focus as his hand glowed cobalt-blue again. A cobalt-blue outline framed Kayla's body for a few seconds before he lowered his arm. "Kayla? How are you feeling, child?"_

_The woman turned slightly in her bed. "A little sore, but most of the pain is gone."_

_"What a relief. You will need to rest, I am afraid. Bring Allen and go home to your father for a few months, until your child is born."_

_"Sir?"_

_"As long as my brother is in the castle, that child is in danger. Do it for the child's sake, if not yours."_

_Kayla hesitated for a minute before nodding. "I understand, sir."_

_The White Prince turned to leave the room. "Good. And Kayla?"_

_"Yes, sir?"_

_"Congratulations on your baby boy."_

_"A boy, sir?"_

_The White Prince beamed. "I saw him wiggle around in your tummy. He will grow up nicely."_

_"Thank you, sir." The White Prince nodded and left the chamber, closing the door behind him._

_Azmaria stood up and walked over to Kayla, embracing the other woman. "A boy, how exciting!"_

_Kayla smiled, staring at the portrait on Allen on her nightstand. "Yes, I think we have a lot to be thankful for."_

The Doctor shook the image from his head as Daniel cleared his throat. "And that was the incident that caused maternity leave to come about in the world."

Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yeah, we heard that story before. That was awful of the Black Prince. He treated those women like dogs!"

"The White Prince confronted his brother about it, and they fought briefly with their claymores, but neither managed to gain an upper-hand and were equally matched. The fight ended in a draw only because both of them were exhausted. Kayla left the castle with her husband on the White Prince's orders. Just as well too, because he probably saved them from the collapse and destruction of the castle a few months later during a state dinner for some dignitaries."

"Is that..."

"Yes, the incident where the dragon split in two and he died with his brother and their Pokemon."

"What happened to that other servant, Azmaria was it?"

"Yes, she was the only survivor of that massacre in Lacunosa Town carried out by the Black Prince." Daniel led the group to a display case which held a small leather-bound book filled with elegant, loopy handwriting. "This is her diary. She died in the same incident as the princes. We learned a lot about her life and everyday life in the castle in general, but what we don't know is if she ever managed to tell the White Prince her greatest secret. It would be a real tragedy if she couldn't."

Amy felt her heart sink in sympathy. "What was it?" The Doctor tuned out Daniel's answer and closed his eyes, a small teardrop forming in the corner.

_The sound of cackling fire and booming thunder echoed throughout the dining room, with furniture and fixtures smashed and strewn all over the chamber. The lower half of her body spread across the floor, Azmaria's shoulders were supported by the White Prince's hands. Blackened marks littered her white dress as its wearer struggled to breathe. The man had assumed a sitting position, holding up the top of her frame to keep her from slumping to the floor. "Just t-try a-and relax, Azmaria."_

_Azmaria winced as she tried to move her mouth, eventually succeeding in forming coherent words. "I'm h-honored. H-Honored t-to h-have served you, m-my prince. I-I have not said it b-before, b-but I-I l-love you. I will always love you." "F-Forever and e-e-ever, as l-long as a piece of me exists somewhere-e, I-I will always l-love-e y-you." Upon the completion of her sentence, Azmaria's eyes rolled backwards in her skull as their lids lowered themselves, forever blocking her vision off to the void of death. The servant girl's head drooped forward, with her forehead coming to rest on the White Prince's left shoulder. He laid her corpse up against the wall, taking her left hand in his own, and noting the rapid decline of her body temperature. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned forward and allowed his lips to make brief contact with her forehead, granting her one last wish. Ensuring that Azmaria's body would not fall, he stood up and turned away._

_Leaning on the wall a meter away, the Black Prince observed the scene from his position, as he straightened his frame, cringing slightly when he put pressure on his left leg. "How touching. Now where were we?" The White Prince cast a glance at the sight above him, before turning to face the other man._

The image disappearing from his head, the Doctor hastily wiped the teardrop from his eye before any of his companions noticed it. "She fell in love with him..." muttered Rory.

Daniel continued to talk. "Well, he's an easy guy to have a crush on. He's kind, friendly and handsome. Who wouldn't want that? By anyway if you ask me, I think both princes are to blame for the dragon splitting in half. If it wasn't for them, the region wouldn't have been devastated."

Rory's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? But the White Prince tried to stop his brother!"

"You really think so? It was his argument with the Black Prince that led to the disaster! "

"What makes you so sure he wanted any of this?"

"Oh boy, you're talking like Sophie now! She really is a big fan of the White Prince and his dragon! At least Nicolas agrees with me, even if he is fascinated by Zekrom. Anyway, who are you, an 'assistant' who doesn't know his way around Pokemon, to question a researcher like me?"

"What do qualifications have to do with this? I have the presence of mind to know that the White Prince wasn't ambitious or greedy, just a man capable of making mistakes!"

The Doctor massaged his temples. "ENOUGH!"

Daniel gulped slightly when he realized who had shouted. "O-Oh. I-I a-apologize-e f-for this. I-I r-really didn't mean to act u-up like that. P-Professor J-Juniper has been working with m-me on my behavior."

The Time Lord sighed. "People are entitled to their own opinions. Just don't argue about it."

"Right."

"What happened afterwards?" asked Amy.

"Things went wrong shortly after the two princes died and their dragons fought each other all over Unova. Civil order gave way to chaos, and many groups of humans and Pokemon emerged amidst the devastation. They fought each other for what little resources were around. The other regions took the dinner as an excuse to declare war on Unova, seeing as their dignitaries died in that fateful dinner. Zekrom slaughtered their armies, forcing them to back away. The other dragon, Reshi-" Daniel was cut off as the Doctor pulled out his newly bought air horn, setting it off with a chuckle.

Amy huffed. "Is that what you went to get, Doctor?"

"Yep."

"That was rude."

"But who doesn't love an air horn? Apart from the people who have to hear it, of course."

"I don't know what to say."

"How about some words on the virtues of an air horn?"

"What _virtues_ does an air horn have?"

"A lot, Pond."

"Nevermind. I don't think I want to know." The Time Lord shrugged and pocketed the air horn as the woman turned to Daniel. "So what did the White Prince's dragon do?"

"It chased Zekrom all over Unova, trying to stop it, but it often arrived at locations to find that the Deep Black Pokemon had already been there. The devastation was proof enough. Unfortunately, when it was pursuing Zekrom and attempting to stop its destruction, it accidentally set fire to the Moor of Icirrus when it flew overhead. The musketeer trio was caught up in the blaze and had to lead several Pokemon to safety. One lost its parents in the fire and was subsequently adopted by the musketeer trio, becoming known as Keldeo. Even though the fire was an accident, the musketeer trio saw what happened as a personal betrayal by the White Prince, and vented their anger at humans in general. They scattered to distant areas of Unova and found new homes for themselves. If a human approaches them, they will bare their fangs and attack. Even though the White Prince dead, they still bear a grudge against him to this very day. Without the Black Prince to organize and mobilize them, the kami trio's destruction was lessened, but they are known to still cause trouble for farmers to this day. Shortly after that, the two dragons were sealed away by the mysterious group of twelve whose leader once lived in this building."

"That's awful. It wasn't the White Prince's fault. So Genesect was crushed to death. Victini is still out there, right?"

"Supposedly. It was seen flying away from the castle as it crumbled, a look of sadness upon its face. Seeing your beloved friend die like that will do that to you."

"So where's Victini now?"

"We don't know for sure, but the White Prince is known to have built a retreat for it in some distant corner of Unova and filled it with toys. Many researchers believe that it went there and stayed to this day. They also think it is a tower of some form."

"Really? How many towers are there in Unova?"

"Well, we're not too sure exactly which tower it is. The White Prince is known for cleverly disguising things."

"Too bad for Victini."

"Yes, it's a tragedy, really. The two princes ruled over the largest of the lesser kingdoms of Unova for two years, before bringing the entire region together and then governing it for ten years afterward. In that time, for better or for worst, they certainly played a massive role in the development of Unova, on a scale unrivaled by anyone who followed them since. Small wonder that they are remembered to this day with many statues and memorials. As reluctant as the people were to erect statues of the Black Prince, it's what the White Prince would have wanted. I believe the Black Prince would have reveled in getting at least one statue, while his brother would likely have felt that he did not deserve one."

The Doctor chuckled. "Personally, I think you're right about the White Prince. He was quite a magnificent fellow, if I may add." The Time Lord smirked. "Charming and dashing too, with enough charisma to grab the attention of the population."

Amy turned to her husband. "I think something's off. I haven't seen the Doctor heap this sort of praise on anyone, unless that person is himself."

"Doctor, are you alright? You've been awfully quiet throughout much of the tour." remarked Rory.

The Time Lord shrugged. "Oh, don't worry, Rory. I was just thinking about well, stuff."

"You seem to be doing a really large amount of it."

"I suppose you could say that."

Daniel led the group to a large display case. Inside was a regal looking red cape, trimmed with black fur, and adorned with printed gold oak leaves. A robe of gold cloth hung in front of the cape, with a pair of black pants next under it. A pair of brown boots rested on the bottom of the display case. Another smaller display case nearby held a shiny crown crafted of an unusual black metal, underneath which a pair of black leather gloves rested. A third display case held a large claymore, its ebony-black blade being its most prominent feature. Next to the sword was its scabbard. The smallest display case, above the claymore, housed a small hexagonal black scale. "These are the royal robes of the Black Prince, along with his crown and claymore. The infamous claymore that killed thousands of people and Pokemon. We know the White Prince had similar robes, but we haven't found them yet. He was known to have worn them at the dinner though."

Rory pointed at the scale. "What's that?"

"That is a scale from Zekrom. It was found with the claymore. Strangely, the bodies of the princes have yet to be discovered, but their Pokemon's corpses have been found, albeit about sixty years after they died."

Rory turned to look at a piece of furniture that caught his attention. "A bed?"

Daniel stared at the ornately canopied bed. "Yes, that's the bed of the bloke who originally lived here. It looked really pretty, not to mention old, so we decided to display it." He gazed at a series of lined up suits of armor. "Those were used by the knights who served the princes. I think that bunch of weirdos Team Plasma based their uniforms partly off them. In my opinion, freeing Pokemon from people is plainly wacko."

The Doctor's attention was captured by a golden sarcophagus-shaped object resting on a display stand. A small face was set into the top of its front, framed by vertical bands of gold and blue. "Is that a real Cofagrigus?"

"A what?" asked Rory.

Daniel scratched his head. "What qualifications do your assistants _have_, Doctor?" Amy groaned at the man's comment. "Anyway, no it's just a replica." The man walked over to the display stand and opened the coffin, revealing it to be hollow. "The Relic Catle is largely inhabited by Cofagigus and its preevolution Yamask. They are thought to be the ghosts of those that perished there, but it's an old wives' tale. I have one more thing to show you all."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Library, January 8, 2011, 12:15 p.m.)_

The doors to a massive room opened as Daniel strode in, followed by the Doctor, Rory, and Amy, who immediately noticed that the room had rows upon rows of bookshelves, filled to the brim with reading material. Two rows of balconies offered access to the second and third floors of shelves. "This is our library, and it contains additional artifact information. Visitors are encouraged to study as much as they like. It is the biggest library in Unova."

"Are there any history books?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes, plenty on the history of Unova, and the two princes."

"Oooo... I bet there's loads and loads of information about me here."

"Did you write a research paper, Doctor?"

"No."

"Then why would this library have information about you?"

"This _is_ the biggest library in Unova, isn't it?"

"Well, yes."

"Okay, I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in Unova. Look me up **(3)**." Daniel remained quiet.

"That's the ego talking." sighed Amy.

Rory shrugged. "You know Amy, the Doctor could be right."

"Oh come on, Rory. I understand if it's some far-off world he saved, but this region hasn't even heard of him before. How can there be anything about him in here?"

Rory was spared from answering Amy's question as the Doctor's Xtransceiver began to ring. The Time Lord answered the call, and was greeted by the face of Professor Juniper appearing on the screen. "Hello Doctor? Lenora will be back at the museum shortly. In the meantime, how about some lunch before your gym battle? Daniel should be wrapping up his tour right about now."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Staff Lounge, January 8, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

The group entered the museum's staff lounge, and were quickly met by Professor Juniper and Fennel.

"Hello, Doctor. I trust the tour was enjoyable?" asked the professor.

"I was very impressed. Daniel is a fine researcher, in my opinion."

"Oh, that's excellent." Professor Juniper smiled at Daniel before she took a seat at the table in the middle of the room as Fennel placed a bottle of champagne in the center, along with some wine glasses. "The caterers brought this for the big launch event tonight, but I figured why not try some? Doctor, you're our guest of honor. Have the first cup. I insist."

The Doctor nodded, sitting down and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed the tip of the device at the bottle's cork, and it quickly popped out straight into the air, surprising the others in the room. Grasping the bottle, he poured himself a cup as the others took their seats. _"Blimey, it's wine. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to deal with it and not spit it out this time _**(4)**_." _The Time Lord took the cup and downed its contents in one gulp before he moved to refill his cup and pour some for the others. He set the bottle down and lifted his cup into the air as the others followed suit, clinking them against his in a toast. As they moved to raise their glasses to their mouths, the Doctor lurched upwards in his chair, spilling his champagne on the tablecloth. "GAH! Oh no, not again..."

Amy set down her cup and rushed to the Time Lord's side. "Doctor! What's wrong?"

"My enzymes... They're being inhibited... I've been poisoned."

* * *

Author's notes: I apologize for the delay, but I've had work to get through. I hope this chapter makes up for it though. It's the longest I've written, and boy, it was tough. Anyway, here's the glossary for the chapter.

(1) Before its destruction, no species of flora and fauna has ever gone extinct on Gallifrey, due to the Time Lords' ability to bring specimens from the past and future into the present.

(2) Amy has frequently romanticized the Doctor as a figure capable of anything, but has learned the hard way that there are some things he simply cannot do.

(3) This is a reference to a line in the episode. "The Forest of the Dead", when the Doctor's tenth incarnation tells the Vashta Nerada to look up information on him, since they were in the largest library in the Universe.

(4) The Doctor's appreciation and taste for alcoholic beverages has waxed and waned with various incarnations, but his eleventh incarnation has a strong distaste for them, spitting a mouthful of wine back into the cup the first time he tried it.

I am still taking OCs for this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**


	23. A Test of Subtlety and Strategy

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"I believed in studying just because I knew education was a privilege. It was the discipline of study, to get into the habit of doing something that you don't want to do." _– Wynton Marsalis

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 23: A Test of Subtlety and Strategy**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Staff Lounge, January 8, 2011, 12:35 p.m.)_

Amy raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with the Doctor's antics. "Poisoned?"

The Time Lord winced, his hands tightly clenching the sides of the table. "That's what I just said, Pond!"

Fennel picked up the Doctor's knocked over glass, giving the contents a quick whiff. "I smell bitter almonds. It's cyanide. Someone _did_ try to poison us."

"Obviously, that someone succeeded." muttered Daniel.

Faced with the new realization, Amy frowned at Daniel. "Well, can't we do something about it?"

Rory sighed. "Cyanide's usually fatal, Amy. Kills in a matter of minutes. As the Doctor said, it inhibits the enzymes responsible for aerobic respiration in cells. In other words, it's starving his body of oxygen."

"You said 'usually'."

"There's an antidote. Hydroxocobalamin. It reacts with cyanide ions to form cyanocobalamin, a form of Vitamin B12, which can be harmlessly eliminated by the kidneys."

Amy bore a frantic expression upon her visage. "Well, is there any of that stuff around?"

"I'm afraid not, Amy. Heck, I haven't even heard of it before. I may be a researcher, but this isn't my area of expertise."

"So the Doctor's done for..."

The Doctor shook his head, as his pushed down on the table, rearing his frame into a standing position. "Not yet. I can stimulate the enzymes into reversal **(1)**. But first, does anyone have ginger beer?"

Professor Juniper scratched her head. "What?"

"Nevermind, just tell me where I can find a convenience store nearby."

Fennel shrugged. "I come to Nacrene once in a while. There's Cheers. I do some grocery shopping there."

"How far is it?"

"About a block from here, it's a ten minute walk."

The Doctor threw his arms into the air. "Oh, that's just _great_. In that case, I suppose there isn't much to worry about."

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE I'LL PROBABLY BE DEAD IN SEVEN, MAYBE LESS, SINCE WE'RE ALL SITTING AROUND HERE MAKING IDLE CHATTER!"

Professor Juniper cupped her chin. "Alright, try Yin's Market. I believe it's just a five minute walk from here." His face contorted into one of pain, the Doctor pulled out his Town Map and switched it on, quickly scanning the screen and finding the location described by the professor in a second. Without uttering a word, he dashed to the door, throwing it open and tearing off down the adjoining corridor.

Amy sighed. "I hate it when he does that."

"Cut the Doctor some slack, Amy. It's a life or death situation for him." replied Rory.

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "He's dying of cyanide poisoning, and he decides to run off to a convenience store?"

Amy ignored the man, turning to look at Professor Juniper. An increasing tone of urgency seeped into her voice as she punctuated each syllable. "Where's Yin's Market?"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Yin's Market, January 8, 2011, 12:45 p.m.)_

Skidding to a halt across the pavement, the Doctor's foot was caught in the gap between cobblestones. The Time Lord yelped as he found his frame stumbling, landing flat on his back. His dropped Town Map clattered on the ground, coming to rest a meter away from its owner. The Doctor hastily scooped up the device and switched it off as he caught sight of the sign above the establishment at whose doorstep he fell. He quickly stood up, pocketing the Town Map in the process as he pushed the door aside.

Upon entry, his eyes landed upon a shopkeeper twiddling his thumbs behind a counter. "Quickly! I need ginger beer! Do you have any?" The shopkeeper simply raised an eyebrow, jerking his thumb to the back of the store. Getting the message, the Doctor ran in the direction to which he was indicated. He soon came across a shelf full of six pack bottle cartons, noting that the beverage was contained in glass beer bottles with crown corks. He fumbled in urgent haste for his sonic screwdriver, grunting in frustration as it slipped out of his fingers and rolled under the shelf. _"Alright, no sonic. Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." _Frantically grabbing a bottle by its body, he swung it against the edge of the shelf, breaking off its neck with a hard resounding smash.

The Doctor felt his fingers slip from the bottle in surprise as he heard the shopkeeper's voice shout from the front of the establishment. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE?" He winced as he heard the glass container smash into pieces on the floor, spilling its contents in a messy pool. Realizing that he would waste precious seconds in vocalizing an answer, the Time Lord stepped forward to grab another bottle, only to slip up and fall on his rear end as his foot landed on the spilt ginger beer. He groaned in pain as his left palm landed on a few shards, tearing small cuts into its surface. He quickly suppressed the stinging sensation from his newly-acquired injury as he stood up, taking another bottle from its carton. He smashed off its neck on the shelf's edge and raised the bottle above his mouth, allowing the ginger beer inside to pour down his throat. Successfully emptying the bottle, he jumped slightly as he heard footsteps from the shop's front.

Realizing that the shopkeeper was fast approaching his location, the Doctor tossed aside the empty bottle, letting it smash to pieces. _"Okay, now I need something with protein. Lots and lots of protein. And fast."_

The Time Lord's eyes widened as he saw the shopkeeper emerge from an aisle. He broke off into a run, prompting the man to give chase. "HEY!"

Gritting his teeth, the Doctor sped past a shelf holding a few varieties of canned food, a hopeful smile crossing his features as he caught sight of a possible aid on his approach. _"Sardines, the poor man's protein... Perfect."_ He reached his arm out and swiped a can of the fish before turning a corner and dashing down a different aisle. His act destabilized the other cans in the stack, causing them to cascade to the floor and trip up the pursuing shopkeeper.

The Time Lord tuned out the shopkeeper's roar as he looped his finger into the can's pull tab, ripping off its lid. "YOU CRAZY IMBECILE!" The Doctor extracted a sardine by its tail, sinking his teeth into its side and ripping off a chuck of flesh, spitting out any bones. Biting off as much raw fish meat as possible, he forced himself to swallow as he kept up his run, knowing that the shopkeeper would not easily give up the chase. With a few large mouthfuls, he stripped a second sardine of its meat as he heard the shopkeeper get up from the floor. Discarding the fish bones, the Doctor threw the empty can behind his back, causing it to spill water on the floor.

Dashing down another aisle, the Doctor heard the shopkeeper slip on the mess he created with the sardine can, wincing as he heard another crash and shower of goods fall on the man. He heard the shop's door open as a woman's voice reached his ears. "I think he went in here." Several footsteps echoed through the aisles.

"_That's Pond! I need to find something salty now!" _The Time Lord turned his head away from the shelf as a box of salt passed his field of vision. _"No, that's too salty!"_

The Doctor continued his trek through the store as he heard Amy's voice. "Have you seen a man with long dark hair and wearing a bow tie come in here?"

The shopkeeper responded in turn. "Yeah, is he a friend of yours? That maniac is demolishing my shop!"

Turning his head back in the direction of the voices, the Time Lord sighed as he found himself running out of breath. _"As much as I would relish that compliment, I really have to finish detoxing myself!"_ Failed to reorient his skull forward, the Doctor crashed into a shelf full of snack foods, suddenly finding himself bombarded by a falling pile of them, knocking him to the floor, a large packet landing right on his face.

The Doctor perked up as he heard a voice which he identified as Rory's. "He must be over there!"

Footsteps could be heard rapidly approaching the Time Lord's location as he straightened his frame, causing the packet to fall onto his waist. Upon noticing what it contained, he grabbed it and ripped it open. _"Potato crisps... Should be salty enough."_ Grabbing a handful of crisps, he shoved them into his mouth, hastily masticating them into a wet pulp which he proceeded to swallow. He moved to continue, but halted when he happened to glance at his right hand. Light orange swirls of energy began to surround the appendage, radiating outwards from his fingers. A quick look at his other hand proved to him that the same thing was happening to it as well. He looked at the backs of his hands before flipping them to stare at his palms. _"It's happening. I-It's r-really-y h-happening… I'm regenerating!" _The Time Lord's vision soon became clouded in light orange as his head was enveloped in the same energy. He stood up, kicking aside the packets of snacks, a small smile of resignation crossing his features. _"After all this… Looks like it wasn't enough…"_ He closed his eyes, prepared to meet his impending death and regeneration with dignity.

His eyes snapped open as a woman's voice penetrated his ears. "DOCTOR!" The Time Lord turned around to see Amy standing a few steps away, her left arm pressed against a shelf for support as she panted for a few seconds from her run. Confusion and alarm was written all over her face at the sight of the light orange swirls of energy surrounding the Doctor's head and hands.

The Doctor gritted his teeth as the woman began to approach him. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists as the swirls of energy surrounding him began to disperse. "STAY BACK, POND!"

"You're regenerating!"

"Yes, and that's why you need to STEP AWAY **(2)**! I can't hold the regenerative energy back for much longer!"

"You started to treat yourself."

"But I didn't have the final ingredient."

"Which is?"

"A shock. I need, or needed, a big one." The Doctor paused to chuckle weakly. "Looks like I don't anymore. Oh well, new face, new personality, new body, here I come. Amy Pond, you're brilliant, marvelous, magnificent, and before I go, let me just say that I enjoyed my time traveling with you. I just hope I'll continue to do so in my next life…"

Amy shook her head, continuing to close the distance between herself and the Time Lord. "You're not leaving like this, Doctor. Not if I can help it."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I TOLD YOU TO STAY BACK!"

Amy smirked. "A shock is it? That's what you needed?" The Doctor gasped in surprise as the woman walked closer and closer to him. "Well, I'm giving you what you need." Amy leaned in to the right side of the Time Lord's face and began to whisper a short sentence into his ear. She turned around to see Rory, Professor Juniper, Fennel, and Daniel approach, her smirk growing as the Doctor's eyes widened. She backed away from him, causing the others to halt their progress towards the Time Lord. "If I were you people, I'd cover my ears right about now."

It seemed as if Yin's Market shook on its foundations as the Doctor reared his head back. "**RORY DID WHAT TO THE TARDIS?**" A white cloud of gas escaped from his gaping mouth and dispersed into the atmosphere as he lowered his head and dropped to his knees, panting. The Time Lord bit his lip and jumped up, clutching his left leg. "OW, MY BRUISE!"

"I thought you said that regenerative energy heals your wounds before changing you, Doctor." asked Rory.

"It does, and started to do so, but I held it back when Amy came over here. She saved my life and stopped my regeneration. Looks like I won't be dying today. Hope I don't do so for a while." The Doctor stared at his palms. "Cut my hand on some glass shards. Anyway, the most the energy did was speed up the healing time of my wounds." He turned to look at Amy. "By the way, did Rory actually…"

Amy gave the Doctor a sly smirk. "Well, you needed a shock, didn't you? I would assume you just got a big one." The Time Lord remained silent, simply casting Rory a suspicious glance.

Rory sighed. "Oh _thanks_, dear. Now the Doctor won't ever let me have a go with the TARDIS again **(3)**."

After retrieving his sonic screwdriver from under the shelf, the Doctor walked past his companions and soon found the shopkeeper rearranging the merchandise. He reached into his pocket and removing a paper bag, handing it to the man. "Sorry about your shop, mate. That should cover the damages though. Come along, everyone."

The Time Lord beamed as he cast a glance back at the shopkeeper, who proceeded to peer into the bag. "Why, I could close up shop and retire for the rest of my life with this. Thank you! I'd say you're now my best customer!"

Daniel stared at the Doctor's back in amazement. "How much did you give him?"

Professor Juniper cleared her throat. "DANIEL!"

"O-Oh-h… S-S-Sorry… M-Must r-remember not to p-pry into o-other p-peoples' business-s."

"I'll say this, I'm definitely loaded." replied the Doctor. His comment was met with groans from Rory and Amy.

"By the way, what did you do, Doctor? I don't think I've seen anyone stave off poison the way you did." said Fennel.

The Doctor shrugged as he held out his cut palm for Rory to bandage. "Consider it something I can do, an ability of sorts."

"I may not know much about cyanide, but that's an odd way to detox yourself."

"Well, I just hope you don't think about trying that if you get poisoned. It only works for a _few_ people."

"Genetic predisposition?" asked Fennel.

"You could say that. Just like how you have the gene that lets you sniff out cyanide. Not that many people can do it."

Professor Juniper shrugged. "Anyway, I believe Lenora has returned. You should get back to the gym so you and Sophie can have your gym battles."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Library, January 8, 2011, 1:10 p.m.)_

Professor Juniper led the others to a pair of double doors at the end of the Nacrene Museum's library, where four people waited, one of which was Sophie. Another was a dark-skinned woman in her early forties with large amounts of curly teal hair. She wore a white blouse and teal trousers with orange shoes. Draped over her clothes was a pink apron and tied around her hairline was a pink and orange banded headband. The third person was a well-dressed man in the same age range as the woman with short black hair and bottom framed glasses. He wore a green dress shirt and gray trousers with a gray tuxedo coat. A green handkerchief protruded from a chest pocket.

The woman held out a hand to the Doctor, which he took. "It's nice to finally meet you in the flesh, Doctor. So you're that famous researcher I've been hearing so much about. I'm Lenora, the Nacrene City gym leader and curator of the Nacrene Museum." She gestured towards the man. "And this is Hawes, my husband and assistant curator. I'm sorry to hear that you got poisoned, but I promise you that I'll try and get to the bottom of it. By the way, how did you survive?"

"I think that is something you'll find hard to understand." replied the Doctor.

"Is your name really 'the Doctor'?" asked Hawes.

Lenora shook her head. "No, it's John. Haven't you seen his credentials?" She turned to the fourth person. "And this is Sophie's sister, Nicolas."

Amy looked around the room, noticing the absence of a person. "Where's Skylar?"

Professor Juniper perked up. "Oh, she isn't challenging any gyms, so I have her helping out with the set up for the big launch event tonight. We need all the help we can get."

Nicolas turned to the Doctor. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Doctor. So, was my sister any trouble?"

Sophie's eyes widened in embarrassment. "Nicolas!"

"I doubt I'll get the real story from you, so don't blame me if I have to ask the Doctor."

The Time Lord shook his head. "Oh no, not at all."

Nicolas stared briefly at Sophie. "You don't have to cover for her, Doctor."

The Doctor shrugged. "In that case, if you want the truth, she was slowing us down on the way here with her late wake-up times and frequent requests to take pit stops."

Nicolas cast a disapproving glance at his sister, causing her to shirk slightly away from him. "When will you stop slowing other people down, Sophie? It's different if you're traveling by yourself, but I'm sure someone like the Doctor has a schedule to keep."

Sophie raised her hands. "Well, he kept going off the path to look at random Pokemon. He also delayed us!"

"Are you responsible for him? The answer is no. The opposite on the other hand, holds true. Besides, like Daniel, he is free to do what he wishes, being a researcher in his own right, while we are assistants under Professor Juniper's instructions, and have to abide by them."

Sophie sighed. "When will you stop treating me like I'm seven?"

"When you stop acting like you're seven. You said you would behave around the Doctor, and he just complained to me. It's bad enough that Professor Juniper's other assistants complain about your laziness, but someone like the Doctor? I could die of embarrassment right now."

"Alright, alright. Fine. I'll try and improve for him. Happy now?"

Nicolas crossed his arms. "I will be when you actually show it."

"Did you have to tell me off in front of all these people?"

"If I didn't, how will you learn? Besides, your laziness is common knowledge among everyone here."

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Alright, now that the matter's out of the way, a real pleasure to meet you all." He turned to face Hawes, eying the man's handkerchief. "Can I borrow that?"

"Yes, but be careful. It's a Carrie Grant collectible. I plan on wearing it to Hankiecon."

The Doctor yanked the handkerchief out of the man's pocket. "I hope that's not the same week as Ascot Palooza." The Time Lord held up the handkerchief, blowing slightly on it and morphing it into a black cane with white tips, which he proceeded to twirl around, earning him slight applause from those in the room. He handed the cane to Hawes, who examined it.

The assistant curator's face belied astonishment. "Oh my, that was wonderful. Bravo!" He turned to face the Time Lord, his expression growing deadly serious. "Now bring it back."

The Doctor pointed at a spot on the floor behind Hawes. "Oh, it's over there." The man bent down to look, at which point the Time Lord reached into Hawes' back trouser pocket, pulling out an egg. The man straightened his frame, letting out a shriek of surprise. He turned around in time to see the Doctor smash the egg on his forehead, sweeping away the eggshell fragments to reveal the handkerchief which he returned to its owner.

Hawes took the handkerchief, staring at it in the manner of a long-lost friend. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again!" The Time Lord smiled as he reveled in the applause that ensured.

Amy sighed. "Trust the Doctor to show off like that."

Rory shrugged. "How many times has he done it?"

"So many times that I've lost count and should probably not be surprised anymore." The woman thought for a second. "So why am I?"

"He has effect on people."

"Urgh, don't remind me."

Lenora nodded at the doors. "Alright, follow me."

"Are you taking us to the battlefield?" asked Sophie.

Lenora shrugged. "You'll see soon enough."

Hawes placed his hand on the scanner beside the doors, causing them to slide open. "We're entering an area that's closed to the general public."

Lenora walked into the room, followed by the others. "This part of the library is reserved for rare books and study materials. You need special permission from us to enter here."

Hawes swept his arm across the room. "This is the finest collection in the entire Unova region. You can learn everything about Unova's history and culture right in here."

The contents of a nearby shelf caught the Doctor's attention and earned a prolonged gaze from him. "Oooo… Books on Pokemon Connoisseurs."

"Yes, the Unova region is where Pokemon Connoisseurs got their start. Are you interested?"

"I do a bit of this stuff on the side."

"Well, well, there's nothing better than lots of experience, so best of luck."

The Time Lord shifted slightly, debating with himself on the mature of his answer. "Uh, thanks, I suppose…"

"Alright, Sophie, I would think you'd want to study up on the Unova region before our battle. The Doctor probably knows all of this."

Sophie shrugged. "That would be nice, but I really would like to have my gym battle."

"Of course you do. That's why I brought you to our library first."

"Huh?"

Lenora continued to talk, disregarding Sophie's confused expression. "Right. You see, the only people who are allowed to use our magnificent library are either researchers or gym battle challengers."

"We're all researchers here." muttered Sophie.

Lenora continued as if the girl had not said anything. "Good, very good. Knowledge can be very important in a Pokemon battle." She came to a halt at a shelf at the front end of the room, turning to face the others. Reaching behind herself, the gym leader rapped a knuckle against a purple-spined book on the shelf. "I recommend you take a peak at this book."

"As much as I like to read, that's not really why we're here, right Doctor?" Sophie turned to face the Doctor, hoping to see some form of agreement on his face, but was disappointed when her eyes caught the Time Lord holding a book on Pokemon Connoisseurs to his visage.

The Doctor whistled as he thumbed a page. "Not keen on reading? Are you getting lazy, Sophie? And here I thought you were planning to beat me at the Unova conference. What in the name of Gallifrey happened to that determination? Are you backing out?" Uneasy at possibly giving the wrong impression of herself to the Doctor, Sophie opened her mouth to launch a retort, but was cut off by the Time Lord before she could do so when he noticed a tidbit of information in the book he was reading. "Anyway, who knew that C-Rank Pokemon Connoisseurs are only allowed to serve as assistants to S-Rank or A-Rank Connoisseurs?"

"Rank?" asked Rory.

"Yes, it says here that Pokemon Connoisseurs are divided into ranks based on expertise. Interesting… You need to take examinations to bolster your license and advance in rank. Your options as a Connoisseur are based on your current rank, and there are four different ranks: S, A, B, and C, where S is the highest class and C is the lowest. Apparently, this system was devised by the pupil of the White Prince who inserted all those food references into the occupation."

Nicolas shrugged. "The White Prince was the first Connoisseur. He'll probably be an S-Rank Connoisseur if the ranking system existed in his time. You say that you do some work as a Connoisseur, Doctor?"

The Time Lord continued to read the book, not bothering to look up. "A little, yes. Why?"

Nicolas raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you not know anything about the workings of being a Connoisseur?"

"It must have somehow slipped my mind. These things happen to the elderly, you know."

Nicolas shook his head in disbelief. "Elderly? You look about the same age as your assistants!"

The Doctor shrugged as he flipped a page. "Well, regardless of age, these things can still be forgotten, even if they are very, very, very important job essentials, no, job _fundamentals_."

Nicolas could barely control the movements of his lips as they went into a slight smirk, sure that his tactfulness and cunning had ensnared the Time Lord in the middle of a fib. He savored such moments before diving in for the kill. "Do you have a license?"

"Of course." deadpanned the Doctor.

Nicolas cupped his chin, pacing briefly in a circle to seal the deal of the Time Lord's perceived untruth. "Interesting. We have a Connoisseur that knows little about his occupation, because now I've seen everything. Alright, where's your license?" Without tearing his eyes from the page, the Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and fished out his psychic paper, tossing it to Nicolas. The man peered at the white card, his eyes widening. "U-U-Unbelievable…"

Sophie stared at her brother. "What is it, Nicolas?"

"It says here that the D-Doctor i-is a-an S-Rank C-Connoisseur! This license seems to be authentic…" Nicolas placed a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose, as his eyes began to travel all over the surface of the card, attempting to find something amiss, and causing Sophie to sigh. She knew how much her brother hated being proven wrong on a matter he was very sure about. Nicolas reluctantly took off his glasses and moved to return the psychic paper to its owner. "Looks like you're right, Doctor."

Casually taking back his psychic paper, the Doctor continued to flip through the book. "Of course I am. I'm the Doctor."

Daniel rolled his eyes as he walked over to Rory and Amy at the back of the group. He pulled them aside to a corner of the room a short distance away from the others before he began to whisper. "I doubt this is over. I think Nicolas will try and find some way to 'prove' that the Doctor's Connoisseur license is a cleverly crafted forgery."

Professor Juniper sighed as she walked over to them, keeping her voice down to prevent the subjects being discussed from eavesdropping. "Yes, Nicolas can be quite stubborn sometimes. At least he doesn't have an outburst when proven wrong, like his sister does." She turned to Daniel. "Should I have a word with him? I don't want my assistants to give the Doctor any trouble."

"If you think it'll help. Didn't the Doctor suggest that you should do something about Skylar and Sophie?"

"I suppose so." Professor Juniper turned to the couple. "What do you two think?"

Rory and Amy, visibly uncomfortable at suddenly being the focus of the two researchers, simply shrugged. "I think you should go with what Daniel said." muttered Amy. Her husband simply nodded in agreement.

Rory cast a glance at Lenora and Hawes at the front of the room, who were leaning against the bookshelf they had come to rest in front of. "So what was Lenora rambling about when she brought use here?"

Fennel turned around and noticed the small group that had congregated at the back. "Oh, there you are." She joined them, whispering as well. "Everything Lenora is saying and doing is a test. She wants to see if her challengers are perceptive enough to find the access to the gym's battlefield."

"How? And just so you know, the Doctor heard everything we were whispering about. His ears are very sensitive."

Fennel blushed, realizing that she had just unwittingly given away important information to someone it was meant to be kept from. "You'll see, and that's all I'll say."

The Doctor closed his book and returned it to its rightful place on a shelf, turning to Lenora. "Well Sophie, you heard Lenora. You're supposed to read a book. But I have a better idea." Before anyone could respond, the Time Lord pointed his sonic screwdriver at the shelf behind Lenora and pushed the device's button. To the amazement of everyone save for Rory and Amy, the shelf rose a few meters, revealing a staircase leading underground in the space behind it. "I would assume that this is the access to the battlefield. Care to prove me wrong?"

Daniel was dumbfounded. "Incredible. I've seen so many challengers practically bust their brains over this test, and some that figured it out, but I've never seen anyone solve it like that!"

"What the solution?" asked Rory.

"You know that book Lenora tapped on the shelf the Doctor raised when she suggested reading one? Challengers were supposed to pull on it and the shelf would rise to reveal that secret passageway. How does that stick of the Doctor's work anyway? He used it to pop a champagne cork and solve Lenora's test."

"Uh, it's complicated…"

"That seems to be the case."

"This was a test…" muttered Sophie.

Lenora nodded. "Yes. You see, I've been testing you since the first moment you walked in here."

"Okay…"

"You see, for most challengers, when I recommend they read a book, nine times out of ten, they go directly to whatever book they're most interested in."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "From all of these?"

"That's correct. Even though I show them the quickest way to get to my gym."

"But why do you do that?"

"Because most challengers will get sidetracked by reading too much into what I say. So, in order to rush into the gym, they usually choose books they're interested in. Or thin books they think they can finish quickly. Very interesting, isn't it? I can generally tell what a Trainer's going to be like by how they react in this kind of situation."

"How about the Doctor?"

"He's the subtle one, but definitely full of surprises. Why, when he picked up that book on Connoisseurs, I thought he would be one of those people who read too deeply into what I said, like many other challengers. He certainly caught me off-guard in that regard. The way he solved my test tells me that he's quick-thinking and resourceful in an unorthodox manner. His brain certainly works differently from that of most other people. I'm interested in seeing how that translates to our battle. What is that thing he used anyway?"

"I'm not too sure I completely understand its nuances myself. By the way, the Doctor had help from Fennel. He heard her say that you were testing him, figured out the accessway must be somewhere here and indiscriminately used his sonic screwdriver to reveal it." Fennel blushed and quickly looked away.

"Oh? I think he probably would have realized it was a test anyway. I would assume he already knew what was in that book he was reading and played dumb, luring Nicolas into a false sense of security when he thought the Doctor was uneducated. The Doctor of course, took advantage of that and used it to snare Nicolas in his own trap. That screams cunning to me as well."

The Doctor stiffened slightly at Lenora's accurate assessment. "And how about Sophie?"

Lenora cupped her chin. "I think she needs to be more active. Everyone talks about how lazy she is. You decided to read that book without the ulterior motive most challengers have, and that is getting to the battlefield quickly. Well, _your_ ulterior motive was to glimpse Nicolas' personality and his tact, right? He loves to use his mind and cunning to beat people in arguments, but you turned the tables on him. You were testing him, and Nicolas underestimated you."

Nicolas sighed at the discussion of his and Sophie's personalities, displeasure etched on his features at the fact that the Doctor received a more favorable psychoanalysis. "I'm right here, you know. And so is Sophie."

The Doctor waved the man off with a hand gesture. "Yes, I can see that. Though maybe it should at my age, I'll have you know that my eyesight hasn't gone yet." The Time Lord walked down the staircase leading to the battlefield. "Well, enough chit chat, I believe there are battles to be won?"

The group followed the Time Lord and found themselves in a large open room with the gym's battlefield, composed of smooth, roughly level ground. Lenora cleared her throat. "Perhaps you should do a little research into what sort of gym leader I am. Don't you think? Like for example, which Pokemon I'm planning on using today." Lenora unclipped two Pokeballs from her belt and tossed them "Come out and help!" A Herdier emerged from one of the red-and-white spheres, while the other opened to reveal a meerkat-like creature with large cheeks and a single tooth protruding from its upper jaw. It was reddish-brown with a beige neck and chest and had yellow striping on its chest and long tail. Its feet and the tip of its tail were painted in white. It also has distinct red eyes with a single yellow stripe within them. "So those are my two Pokemon."

The Doctor whistled. "A Herdier and a Watchog, two normal-type Pokemon."

Hawes nodded. "Both Watchog and Herdier are excellent Pokemon who respond well to Lenora's commands. They're such excellent Pokemon that they also help out with museum security."

"Normal-type Pokemon are perfect for gym battles. That's because they don't have any of the limitations of Pokemon that are bound to a certain element. This allows me the flexibility to respond to any strategy challengers may use againstme." replied Lenora.

"I'm therefore assuming that the dominant type of this gym is the normal-type then." muttered Rory.

Professor Juniper nodded. "That's right. Lenora sure made it obvious with her choices of Pokemon."

Amy shrugged. "At least things aren't as complicated here compared to the Striaton Gym."

"Variety is the spice of life for some people…" noted the Doctor.

"So who's battling Lenora first?" asked Sophie.

"I think you should." replied the Time Lord. "Then you can take a nap afterwards."

"What?"

"Need I repeat myself, Sophie?" Nicolas narrowed his eyes at the Doctor's comment.

"I heard you the first time."

"At least your ears are working properly then. Good luck." Nicolas simply nodded, echoing the Time Lord's sentiment.

Sophie sighed before stepping up to take her place on the battlefield. "Alright, time to win."

Amy sighed. "The Doctor's at it again with being a jerk to motivate people."

Professor Juniper nodded. "That's an unusual way to do things, but it takes all kinds to succeed as a Trainer."

"With Sophie going first, he's probably going to observe how Lenora battles and then maybe hope that Sophie _does_ sleep afterwards so she won't see _his_ strategies."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, overhearing Amy. "Why, Pond, I'm _appalled_ that you would think so lowly of me."

Amy huffed. "You've done that sort of thing before, Doctor."

"Well, I can tell you this. Sophie isn't that lazy, though she should shape up her act a bit." said Professor Juniper.

"Why did Lenora show her challengers what Pokemon she would be using?"

"Lenora's one very confident gym leader, and it's a way of testing her challengers to see how they would respond with the knowledge of what their opponents are. Now that they know her Pokemon possess no overwhelming elemental properties as normal-types, they may underestimate her, which can be a costly mistake. Quite psychological, isn't it? The combination should make for an interesting battle."

"That sounds like something the Doctor does on a regular basis."

"He does sound like someone you shouldn't underestimate, yes. I keep getting that vibe from him. Seems like a lot of people have done so and lived to regret it."

Lenora walked to the opposite end of the battlefield from Sophie. "Now Hawes, if you would please explain the rules?"

Hawes nodded. "Of course, dear. Alright. The Nacrene City Gym battle between Sophie the challenger and Lenora the gym leader will begin by each selecting two of their Pokemon. It's two-on-two. And when either the gym leader or the challenger's Pokemon are left unable to battle, the battle will be decided. In addition, both Pokemon can be freely substituted at any time."

"Both of them can substitute Pokemon? But the Striaton City Gym didn't allow the gym leader to do that." said Amy.

"Different gyms have different rules, Pond, a reflection of the gym leader's methods of bringing out the best in their challengers."

Lenora held out a Pokeball. "I've decided who to use first. I choose Herdier." She pointed the red-and-white sphere at Watchog, recalling it. "First things first, Watchog return."

Hawes walked to the edge of the battlefield's middle, crossing his arms. "The Nacrene Gym battle between Lenora the gym leader and Sophie the challenger is about to begin! Challenger has the first move! And battle begin!"

Lenora: 2

Sophie: 2

Lenora pointed at the battlefield, gesturing her Pokemon. "Herdier, go!"

Sophie unclipped a Pokeball from her belt, tossing it with a flick of her wrist, sending out her Pidgeotto. "Alright, Rustle, you're up! Use Aerial Ace!" White streaks of light surrounded the Bird Pokemon as it soared towards the Loyal Dog Pokemon, its attack seemingly about to connect.

Lenora pointed at the approaching Rustle. "Herdier, use Roar." The Loyal Dog Pokemon complied, opening its mouth and letting out a loud howl. Waves of piercing sound rippled throughout the battlefield as the observers covered their ears. Rustle was defenseless against the attack as he flew directly into it, turning into a streak of red energy that shot at the Bird Pokemon's Pokeball. From Sophie's belt, a blue streak of energy was shot at the battlefield, transforming into Diver the Dewott.

Amy looked puzzled. "What? Why was Diver sent out like that?"

"Roar is a move that forces the opposing Pokemon to switch places with another Pokemon on the team. Due to its nature, it has the potential to mess up quite a few strategies." replied the Doctor.

Lenora held out Herdier's Pokeball, recalling her Pokemon. "Alright, I'll be switching as well. Your turn, Watchog!" Replacing her Pokeball on her belt, the gym leader tossed another, sending out the Lookout Pokemon. "Mean Look, let's go!" Watchog complied, surrounding the battlefield in a purple aura. Several eyes with black pupils opened up within the aura, all casting their gaze at Diver, whose body glowed magenta. The aura soon disappeared with the eyes.

Sophie took out Diver's Pokeball. "What? Diver, return." The girl attempted to switch out her Pokemon, but a purple energy barrier appeared around her, deflecting the red beam of energy from the Pokeball.

Predicting a question from his companions, the Doctor spoke before they could ask it. "As you can tell, Mean Look is a move that prevents the opponent from switching out as long as the user remains in battle. It appears that Lenora is forcing Sophie to work with different Pokemon now. If she had a preplanned strategy in mind with Rustle, that has now gone out the window. A lot of Trainers stumble when faced with this situation, which is not a good thing this early in the battle. It's a nifty psychological trick."

Lenora faced her challenger. "Give it up Sophie, you're wasting your time. Move on, Diver has no choice but to battle."

Sophie stared at Lenora's Watchog. "Alright then, Diver. I guess it's your turn. Start with Razor Shell." Detaching the two scalchops on her hips, the Dewott elongated a pillar of water from each of them, swinging the appendages at the Lookout Pokemon.

"Dodge it." The Lookout Pokemon sidestepped each swing of the scalchops by Diver, nimbly moving aside. "Thunderbolt." Yellow electricity cackling around its frame, Watchog shot a beam at its opponent.

"Detect!" Dispelling the pillars of water, Diver eyes glowed light blue, causing her to leap up just as the attack traveled across the space she occupied a second ago.

"What move was that?" asked Rory.

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Just where did you employ your assistants from, Doctor?" He gulped slightly when he caught Professor Juniper's gaze, releasing a slight sigh. "Nevermind. Detect is a move that guarantees the successful avoidance of almost every impending attack about to hit the user. Sure, you can dodge, but Detect is certain to work, unless you use it too many times in succession. Then it can fail on you."

Lenora cupped her chin. "Interesting counter, Sophie, but let's see how you respond to this. Watchog, Crunch!" Jaws agape, the Lookout Pokemon charged towards Diver with the intent on clamping down on some part of her anatomy.

Sophie nodded. "Razor Shell, Diver!" The Dewott swung one of her scalchops at Watchog, shoving it into the Lookout Pokemon's mouth and interrupting its attack. Elongating a pillar of water from the other scalchop, Diver dealt her opponent a swift uppercut, knocking Watchog backwards, causing it to stumble in disorientation. "Don't let up, Diver! Use Swords Dance and Razor Shell again!" The Dewott's scalchops glowed purple as she swung them, increasing her Attack stat. She slashed at her opponent with the appendages, connecting one in another uppercut and dealing a diagonal slash across Watchog's stomach with the other.

"Watchog, Confuse Ray!" The Lookout Pokemon held its arms outwards as its eyes took on a purple glow. Diver's eyes connected with Watchog's, and soon shared the same glow, before turning starry-eyed. A ring of Torchic appeared around her head, indicating her confusion. "Follow it up with Thunderbolt!" The Lookout Pokemon shot a beam of yellow electricity from its body at the Dewott, causing her to cringe from the super effective hit.

"Quick, Diver, Water Pulse!" Replacing the scalchops on her hips, Diver put her hands a short distance apart, forming a sphere of water between them. Rearing one hand back, she flung the attack at the Lookout Pokemon, drenching it.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Detenct!" Lenora's Watchog shot off its attack, but Diver quickly sidestepped it, eyes glowing light blue. "Use Swords Dance, Diver!" The Dewott complied, twirling her scalchops while they glowed purple. "And now, Razor Shell!" Diver ran at Watchog, attempting to strike with a scalchop, but missed due to her confusion.

"Use Thunderbolt again!"

"Watchog's close enough, Diver! Razor Shell!" As Watchog charged up its electric-type attack, Diver swung her other scalchop, slashing the Lookout Pokemon diagonally across the stomach before it could retaliate, forcing it to stop charging Thunderbolt. "Keep using Razor Shell!" The Discipline Pokemon complied, continuously striking the Lookout Pokemon with her scalchops until her arm shot backwards and stuck herself across the face with one of the appendages.

"One of the perils of confusion, you could wind up hurting yourself." muttered Nicolas.

Fennel nodded. "Maybe, but Watchog looks the worst for wear." The observers gazed at the Lookout Pokemon, noticing that it was wobbling on its feet, struggling to stand. It closed its eyes and fell backwards on its back, unconscious.

Hawes nodded. "Watchog is unable to battle, so Dewott wins."

Sophie: 2

Lenora: 1

Lenora held out Watchog's Pokeball to recall it. "Alright, Watchog, you deserve a rest. Not bad, Sophie, but can up keep it up? You know I won't let up one bit." The gym leader held out another Pokeball and tossed it to send out her Loyal Dog Pokemon. "Not while I'm the Nacrene gym leader. Herdier, come on out!"

Sophie bit her lip. "I'm sticking with Diver. Use Razor Shell!"

"Even though she's no longer under the effects of Watchog's Mean Look? Very well then. Herdier, Take Down! The Loyal Dog Pokemon charged at its opponent, commencing its attack.

"Dodge it!" The confused Discipline Pokemon attempted to follow the command, but flopped over backwards, allowing Herdier to pounce onto her frame.

"Bite!" Fangs bared, the Loyal Dog Pokemon bit down on Diver's left arm, causing the Dewott to shriek in pain.

"Come on, Diver! Razor Shell!" The stars in the Dewott's eyes disappeared as she recovered from her confusion. With her right hand, she swiftly removed a scalchop, whacking the Loyal Dog Pokemon across the side of its face with an elongated pillar of water from the appendage, forcing Herdier to release her arm.

Nicolas cast the two Pokemon a thoughtful gaze. "Of course, the power of Razor Shell is decreased, since it's a physical move that depends on the user's Attack stat. Herdier's ability is Intimidate, which slightly lowers that stat of the opponent's. But since Diver used Swords Dance twice to boost her Attack stat, that might offset this reduction somewhat."

Lenora hastily issued a command. "Quick, Herdier! Shadow Ball!" Paws still pressed down on Diver's body, Herdier opened its mouth and fired off a black and purple ball of energy at point-blank range into the Dewott's face.

Sophie gasped. "DIVER!"

"Take Down!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon clenched its paws deeper into Diver's flesh and brought the front of its frame down on the Dewott, digging the Discipline Pokemon's frame deeper into the earth of the battlefield.

"Water Pulse, Diver!" Mustering her strength, Diver brought her hands together under Herdier's body and hastily formed a ball of water between them. She propelled the Water Pulse upwards, launching Herdier upwards. As she moved to stand up, the Loyal Dog Pokemon landed on the battlefield a few paces from her.

"You've gained a slight reprieve, Sophie, but don't expect another one. Herdier, use Shadow Ball!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon turned to face Diver and launched its attack.

"Detect!" Standing up in time to perceive the attack's approach, Diver's eyes glowed light blue as she sidestepped it.

"Take Down!" Distracted from avoiding Herdier's Shadow Ball, the Dewott failed to notice the Loyal Dog Pokemon charge at her, succeeding in knocking her down to the ground. When Herdier stepped off her frame, Diver's eyes were swirly.

Hawes nodded. "Dewott is unable to battle, Herdier wins."

Sophie: 1

Lenora: 1

Sophie took out her Dewott's Pokeball. "Thanks, Diver. You take a rest for now." She reached for Rustle's Pokeball, tossing it with a flick of her wrist. "Now do it, Rustle!" The Pidgeotto emerged from the red-and-white sphere with a start. "Use Aerial Ace!" White streaks of light appeared around the Bird Pokemon's frame as he headed straight for the Loyal Dog Pokemon.

Lenora stared at the approaching Rustle. "Hmmm… No point in dodging that… Herdier, Take Down!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon complied, charging directly towards the Pidgeotto. Both Pokemon slammed into each other, neither yielding until Rustle pulled away from the headlock by flying upwards.

"Steel Wing!" Rustle's wings took on a silver sheen as he swooped down on Herdier.

"Dodge it!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon attempted to follow the command, but was quickly knocked aside by Steel Wing as he tried to dive away from Rustle. "Fine then, Bite!" Noting that its opponent was still flying at a low altitude, Herdier charged forward at the Pidgeotto and leapt up, biting into his back and scoring a clean hit.

"Don't give up, Rustle! Use Aerial Ace!" Streaks of white light surrounding his frame, the Pidgeotto broke free from Herdier's jaws and flew around to face his opponent, soaring forward to manage another successful hit.

"Herdier, Bite!" Before the Bird Pokemon could reach a safe distance from Herdier, the Loyal Dog Pokemon chomped down on the back of his left wing with its sharp fangs. Lenora's Pokemon bowed its head sharply towards the ground, pulling Rustle to slam onto it hard.

"Try and get free, Rustle! Steel Wing!" Wings glowing silver, Rustle reached behind and swung its right wing forward, smacking the Loyal Dog Pokemon across the side of its face, and succeeding in freeing his trapped left wing. "Keep up the attack!" The Bird Pokemon hastily spun around to face his opponent, repeatedly smacking its head around with his wings.

"Herdier, Take Down!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon complied, kicking its legs back and barreling into Rustle's chest, succeeding in pushing the Pidgeotto halfway across the battlefield.

The Doctor observed the Loyal Dog Pokemon. "Lenora's Herdier sure looks exhausted. All that recoil damage sustained from using Take Down quite a few times must be piling up."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Two can play at that game. Rustle, push Herdier back with Aerial Ace!" Regaining his focus, the Bird Pokemon flapped his wings and formed white streaks of light around his frame. He blitzed forward, surprising his opponent, and pushing it back the way they came. Reaching the limits of the battlefield failed to stop Rustle however, as he forced Herdier past the line and slammed both of them into the nearby wall. When the observers dared to look, Rustle was pinning Herdier to the wall, with the Loyal Dog Pokemon clearly unconscious.

Sophie: 1

Lenora: 0

Hawes raised an arm in Sophie's direction. "Herdier is unable to battle, and the winner is Pidgeotto! Which means the victor is Sophie the challenger!"

Sophie breathed a sigh of relief, walking over to her Pokemon. "We did it! Good job, Rustle." The Pidgeotto simply nodded in response, too tired to perform any other action.

Lenora recalled her Pokemon with a nod. "Well done, Herdier. Rest yourself now." She turned to face her challenger. "Sophie, that was a fine battle. You're a Trainer with some spirit, I'll give you that."

"Thanks, Lenora."

"You'll get your badge after I finish my battle with the Doctor. Right now, I need to make a quick stop to the Pokemon Center to heal my Pokemon. Doctor, I suggest you get ready." The only response from the Doctor was a simple wave.

Rory turned to the Time Lord. "Any ideas on how to counter Lenora's forceful switching technique, Doctor?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Not really, but I'll come up with something. I always do."

"Let's hope so."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Battlefield, January 8, 2011, 2 p.m.)_

Standing at one end of the battlefield, the Doctor shifted his frame slightly, Pokemball in hand as he eyed Lenora at the opposite end. Noting that both Trainers were ready, Hawes nodded. "With the same rules in place, the battle between Lenora and the Doctor is about to begin. Once again, the challenger has the first move. Now begin!"

The Doctor: 2

Lenora: 2

Lenora nodded at her challenger. "Alright, as with Sophie, I'm starting things off with Herdier. Come on out!" A toss of a Pokeball revealed her Loyal Dog Pokemon. In response, the Doctor casually flicked his own Pokeball into the air, sending out his Snivy.

Rory nodded. "The Doctor's starting out strong today."

"You may begin anytime you wish, Doctor." offered Lenora.

"Very well then. Snivy, start with Vine Whip." replied the Doctor. The Grass Snake Pokemon eyed her opponent for a second before charging at it, vines extending from her shoulders.

"Quick, Herdier, dodge it!" Lenora's Pokemon attempted to sidestep Snivy's attack, only for the Grass Snake Pokemon to take advantage of her forward momentum and lash out with her vines, scoring two clean hits across the Herdier's visage. The Loyal Dog Pokemon shook its head a few times to rid itself of the stinging sensation.

"Leonra's Herdier is fast, but it looks like the Doctor's Snivy is faster." muttered Nicolas.

The Doctor continued his commands. "Follow it up with Leaf Tornado." Snivy turned herself upside down and launched her attack, becoming engulfed in a leaf-filled vortex of air, rapidly traveling towards the Herdier.

Lenora crossed her arms. "Herdier, quick, use Roar!" Its body outlined in red, the Loyal Dog Pokemon let out its attack, the loud howl from its mouth prompting the battle's observers to cup their ears. The echoing sound waves struck Snivy, as her tornado toppled to the ground, ejecting its progenitor. Suddenly exposed to Roar, Snivy dug her feet into the ground, attempting to weather the attack, but was launched into the air, transforming into red energy that shot towards the Doctor's belt. From the same belt, a blue stream of energy was released in the opposite direction, taking Tepig's form. Lenora pulled out Herdier's Pokeball and recalled her Pokemon. "I'll be switching as well. Now go, Watchog!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon's replacement was soon brought out, and Lenora gazed at Tepig. "Use Mean Look." Watchog gazed at Tepig as a purple aura surrounded the battlefield. Within the aura, several eyes with black pupils opened up throughout the room and gazed at Tepig, outlining his frame in magenta. The aura soon vanished along with the eyes.

The Time Lord shrugged at the forced switch. "Well, now you know what my other Pokemon is. Anyway, Tepig, continue with Ember." The Fire Pig Pokemon complied, firing off a stream of fire bolts from its snout. The attack spiraled towards Watchog, but the Lookout Pokemon nimbly avoided it by sidestepping to its left.

Daniel cupped his chin. "The Doctor was keeping his stronger Pokemon in reserve then. He started with Snivy, knowing that Lenora was going to force a switch out to Tepig. This allowed him to save her strength for later. Because of Roar, the Doctor might as well start with Tepig, which is probably his intention."

Lenora pointed at Tepig. "You were quick to get back on the ball after that Mean Look, Doctor. It shows how in tune you are with your Pokemon. Now Watchog, respond with Crunch!" Mouth wide open, the Lookout Pokemon sped over to Tepig before he could react, sinking his teeth into the Fire Pig Pokemon's neck and causing him to shriek in pain.

The Doctor's eyes widened in alarm. "Shake Watchog off with Flame Charge, Tepig!"

"Watchog, disengage." As Tepig cloaked himself in fire, the Lookout Pokemon removed its maw and leapt aside, causing the Fire Pig Pokemon to make a mad flaming dash to try dislodging a target that was no longer there. "Now use Thunderbolt." Watchog's body cackled with yellow electricity as it fired a beam of the attack at Tepig's back. Unable to see its approach, the Fire Pig Pokemon took the brunt of Thunderbolt, causing him to wince. Sparks cackled around Tepig as he struggled to move.

Nicolas nodded. "Looks like Tepig's now paralyzed."

Amy bit her lip at the sight. "That Watchog is really fast. Probably faster than Herdier. Tepig really seems to have trouble keeping up."

The Doctor tried to keep a straight face. "Stay strong, Tepig. Use Ember. Tepig turned his head and attempted to launch his attack, but was unable to move any further due to his paralysis.

"Well now, that's unfortunate for you, Doctor. Watchog, use Crunch." The Lookout Pokemon seemed to disappear from sight, before appearing directly in front of Tepig's face. The Fire Pig Pokemon's eyes widened in alarm as his opponent latched onto his forehead with its mouth.

"Come on, Tepig, Flame Charge!"

"Thunderbolt!" As Tepig cloaked himself in fire, Watchog shot a beam of electricity directly into the Fire Pig Pokemon's small frame, stunning Tepig. The fire and electricity collided to create an explosion resulted that engulfed the two Pokemon in a cloud of thick smoke.

"TEPIG!"

"WATCHOG!" Both challenger and gym leader stared at the foggy screen, waiting for it to disperse. When it did, Watchog was seen with a number of scratches across its frame, while Tepig was lying face down, spread-eagle on the battlefield with swirly eyes.

Hawes raised an arm in Lenora's direction. "Tepig is unable to battle, and Watchog wins."

Sophie stared at Lenora's Watchog. "In its bid to knock out Tepig with Thunderbolt at close range, it looks like Watchog took some damage from being directly exposed to Flame Charge like that. Looks like Tepig needs to work on his speed more, since he just couldn't keep up with Watchog this time."

The Doctor: 1

Lenora: 2

The Doctor silently recalled Tepig before sending out Snivy to take his place. Lenora nodded. "So you're back with Snivy now. Reap the fruits of your studies and show me what she can do!"

The Time Lord pointed at the Lookout Pokemon. "Snivy, start with Vine Whip!" Two vines extended themselves from the Grass Snake Pokemon's shoulders as she shot them towards her opponent's torso.

"Watchog, dodge it!"

"Aim for the legs!" The Lookout Pokemon attempted to follow its Trainer's command by leaping over the vines, but Snivy raised one of them, curling it around Watchog's feet before giving it a sharp pull. The Lookout Pokemon shrieked as it was quickly dragged down to the ground, landing on its stomach with a resounding thump. "Continue with Vine Whip and add Tackle!" Vine keeping a firm hold on Watchog, Snivv leapt up, using the momentum to bring her other vine down around her opponent's neck, causing Watchog to gasp from sudden oxygen deprivation. With a smirk, Snivy dived down on her quarry, slamming into its back with Tackle. "Hold Watchog in place and use Leaf Tornado!" The Grass Snake Pokemon turned herself upside down, conjuring a leaf-filled tornado with a flick of her tail. Held loosely by Snivy's vines, the Lookout Pokemon was forced into the altitude of the tornado's upper limits by the pull of its winds, leaves battering its frame. Snivy closed her eyes, a smirk forming on her face as her vines and body took on a dark green glow, with Watchog appearing to be very exhausted.

Lenora gritted her teeth. "WATCHOG!"

Fennel's eyes widened. "Looks like Snivy just learned a new move! That's Mega Drain!"

Rory scratched his head. "Mega Drain?"

"It's a move that drains some of the opponent's health and transfers half of it to the user. Quite handy if you're in a spot."

The Doctor beamed. "A new move, now that's a nice trick, Snivy. Now use Vine Whip!" Her smirk growing wider, Snivy complied, retracting her vines and releasing the Lookout Pokemon. Before Lenora's Watchog could be propelled out of the vortex of air due to the directional twist of its winds, Snivy shot a vine upwards, smacking it cleanly in the middle of its stomach and sending it flying straight upwards. The Lookout Pokemon slammed into the room's ceiling with a bone-crunching crack before falling to the floor in a messy heap with swirly eyes.

Hawes stared at the unconscious Pokemon. "Watchog is unable to battle, and the winner is Snivy."

Sophie's eyes widened. "Wow. The Doctor beat that Watchog faster than I did..."

The Doctor: 1

Lenora: 1

Lenora recalled her Watchog with a glance at her challenger. "Take a good rest, Watchog. I have to say, Doctor, your Snivy is fast. She didn't even let Watchog launch a single attack at all. Congratulations on the new move, by the way." She reached for her other Pokeball, tossing it. "But don't think for a second that I'm going to let up. You're up, Herdier!" The red-and-white sphere opened, returning Lenora's Loyal Dog Pokemon to the battlefield.

The Doctor stared calmly at Lenora's Herdier. "Why, thank you. Now Snivy, Tackle!" The Grass Snake Pokemon dashed forward, intending to meet her opponent with her attack.

"Someone's eager. Herdier, let's start with Take Down." The Loyal Dog Pokemon responded in turn, charging to close the distance from Snivy. The two Pokemon slammed into each other, locked in position for a second, before Herdier prevailed due to its heavier mass, knocking Snivy aside and catching her off-guard.

"Due to Herdier's ability Intimdate, the power of a physical move like Vine Whip is slightly reduced." observed Daniel.

Lenora continued her command. "And now, Shadow Ball!" Turning its head to face the Grass Snake Pokemon, Herdier fired off a black and purple orb of energy from its maw.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Dodge it!" Realizing that she was unable to jump high enough to avoid the attack, Snivy extended her vines and pushed them down on the battlefield, propelling herself a meter into the air. The Shadow Ball whizzed through the space between the vines and succeeded in grazing both, compromising the Grass Snake Pokemon's stability and sending her to the floor.

"Use Shadow Ball again, Herdier!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon fired off another attack, this one succeeding in striking the Grass Snake Pokemon's tail. Snivy shrieked as she was launched into the air from the force of the Shadow Ball.

"Vine Whip!" Snivy shook off her disorientation, recovering in time to land gracefully on the battlefield. She extended her vines and shot them towards her quarry.

"Herdier, try and dodge that attack!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon ran to its right in a bid to follow its Trainer's command, allowing the Doctor to see that its rear was vulnerable.

The Time Lord stared at Lenora's Pokemon. "Get on Herdier's back, Snivy!" The Grass Snake Pokemon ran forward, pursuing her opponent, her vines getting closer. She eventually managed to grab Herdier's neck with one, retracting it and using the momentum to pull herself onto the Loyal Dog Pokemon's back. Vine still wrapped around Herdier's neck, she dug her feet into its fur to keep herself steady, mounted on the other Pokemon like a roughrider. With her other vine, she proceeded to lash Lenora's Pokemon repeatedly across the top of its cranium.

"Herdier, shake Snivy off!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon began bucking like a wild bull, attempting to dislodge its unwanted rider, but Snivy held firm. "Alright, you want to play it that way, Doctor? Herdier, Shadow Ball!" Struggling to move its neck due to the vine encircling it, the Loyal Dog Pokemon stomped down hard with its front legs, succeeding in causing Snivy to lose her focus for a second, enough time for Herdier to turn its head back and launch a black and purple orb of energy at the Grass Snake Pokemon, forcing her to release her vine's grip on its neck and catapulting her backwards into the air with a shriek of surprise.

"SNIVY! Use Leaf Tornado!"

"Herdier, Bite!" The Doctor's command was lost on his Pokemon's ears as Herdier turned around and ran to meet the Grass Snake Pokemon, leaping up and snaring her small frame by the stomach in its jaws, shaking her around in the manner of a chew toy. "That's it, Herdier. Keep up the attack!"

"Mega Drain!" Despite the restriction of movement imposed by the Loyal Dog Pokemon's mouth, Snivy extended her vines and wrapped them around Herdier's torso. The two appendages glowed dark green as they sapped energy from Herdier, transferring it to the Grass Snake Pokemon.

Daniel cupped his chin. "Snivy's trying to heal herself by using Mega Drain, but while she's trapped in Herdier's jaws and continuously exposed to Bite, that energy gained is just going to seep away."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Maybe, but Herdier's strength is being sapped by Snivy. It's basically hurting itself by keeping up that Bite attack."

"So it basically comes down to who has more stamina." said Nicolas. Within a few seconds of Nicolas' comment, both Pokemon stood unmoving in a tight deadlock, until Snivy broke it by turning to stare at the Doctor, a look of apology and pleading for forgiveness etched on her face. The Time Lord responded with his own solemn expression of understanding, lowering his head in a slow nod. The Grass Snake Pokemon took a second to drink in her Trainer's gesture, before she closed her eyes, her head drooping downwards. Her vines lost their dark green glow and unwound themselves from Herdier's body, flopping uselessly to the floor. Lenora's Pokemon bowed its head, gently placing Snivy's frame on the battlefield.

The Doctor: 0

Lenora: 1

Hawes nodded slowly. "Snivy is unable to battle, so Herdier wins. With that, the winner of this battle is the gym leader Lenora!"

"The Doctor lost…" muttered Amy.

"Oh don't worry, Amy, he can always come back for a rematch." replied Rory.

"I know, but before Snivy fainted, she gave the Doctor 'that look'. I take it that they were trying to communicate."

Professor Juniper gave the Doctor a thoughtful glance, noting that the Time Lord had scooped his Snivy into his arms. "Yes, it shows how deep their bond is. While she was in my care, I noticed that Snivy is a really proud and slightly arrogant Pokemon, rarely bowing aside for anyone. That look on her face just told me what sort of impact the Doctor has on her. She's genuinely apologetic that she may have disappointed him by losing. I have never seen her show that to anyone else, save for the Doctor's other Pokemon, but that's to be understood since she knows them well."

Fennel nodded. "And the way the Doctor looked at Snivy just simply spoke acceptance. He understands and is simply grateful that she battled hard for him. He certainly doesn't hold the loss against her. I think he blames himself for it. Very noble of him."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "How did you guess that?"

"One thing I specialize in is the way humans interact with their Pokemon, you know."

"I see." The nurse observed the Doctor reach for Snivy's Pokeball to recall her.

The Doctor took a breath before facing Lenora. "Many thanks for the battle, Lenora. I see that I still have some training to do."

"Well, I certainly had fun, Doctor. You're one interestingly unpredictable challenger. Come back for a rematch whenever you think you're ready." The Time Lord nodded, walking off to join his companions on the sidelines.

"Looks like I need to work on my Tepig's speed and power, though training up my other Pokemon won't hurt."

Fennel nodded. "You can always do that at the Battle Club. I'm sure Don George has something that will help."

The Doctor nodded at Sophie. "An interesting battle, Sophie. I'd say that you deserve that badge."

"Thank you, Doctor. I hope you win yours soon." replied Sophie.

"I trust that I will."

Lenora walked up to Sophie, holding a blue hexagonal container. Inside the container was a purple metal badge outlined in yellow shaped like the spine of a book. "I really admire your battle style, Sophie. Here, this is the Basic Badge. Good luck in future battles and keep believing in all of your Pokemon." Sophie uttered her thanks, taking the badge as proof of her victory. "Now then, I do believe that we have a launch event to prepare for, and only a few hours to get it done. I think we should get on the ball."

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 8, 2011, 2:30 p.m.)_

The third man at the table of seven smirked. "The pesky thorn in our sides, the Doctor, took the bait, as we planned."

"Excellent." replied the fifth man.

"But Adam failed to terminate anyone."

"Including the Doctor?"

"Yes."

The fourth man perked up. "How in the world did he survive being poisoned with cyanide?"

Ghetsis shrugged. "It doesn't matter. He can't possibly derail what we have in store."

"Everything is in place?"

"Indeed. The boy made sure of it. The operation will commence tonight, and we'll have what we need to make everything a reality. We even have backups to ensure our success."

* * *

Author's notes: I apologize for the late chapter, but I recently took up a new job that is chomping away at my free time. Not sure when I can get the next one out, but I'll try to do so as soon as possible. Anyway, here's the glossary for the chapter.

(1) While cyanide is poisonous to Time Lords if ingested, they take a longer amount of time to succumb to it than humans, and can detox themselves by ingesting an unusual concoction consisting of ginger beer, protein-rich food, and salty food. A big shock is also required to complete the detox. The Doctor's tenth incarntaion detoxed himself in such a way when poisoned with cyamide in the episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp". He consumed ginger beer, walnuts (rich in protein), and anchovies (for salt). The shock he received was a kiss from his companion Donna Noble.

(2) While the reason for which has not been stated in the show, the energy that rejuvenates a Time Lord's cells, given off when he is regenerating, is harmful to humans.

(3) The Doctor has allowed Rory to help him in maintaining the TARDIS, as seen in the mini-episodes "Space" and "Time". Much to Amy's annoyance, he doesn't afford her the same privilege.

If anyone's curious, OCs for this story are still being taken. Reviews and constructive critcism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Sophie Summers and Nicolas Summers belong to yuukifan001.**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**


	24. Shattering the Sanctuary of History

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Lie to a liar, for lies are his coin; Steal from a thief, for that is easy; lay a trap for a trickster and catch him at first attempt, but beware of an honest man." _– Arab Proverb

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 24: Shattering the Sanctuary of History**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 7 p.m.)_

As the Nacrene Museum opened its doors to the public for the launch event of an exhibition featuring artifacts from the Relic Castle, Daniel walked up to the display case containing the meteorite, accompanied by several visitors. "The first stop on our tour of the Nacrene Museum is this exhibit of a meteorite."

A particularly disgruntled visitor huffed. "That is _not_ a meteorite!"

Daniel shook his head. "I'm sorry to disagree with you, but that is an authentic meteorite. It fell to this world from outer space."

"No, it is fake. Probably weighs next to nothing. Watch!" Disregarding the "Do Not Touch" sign, the man proceed to curl his fingers around the meteorite, lifting it out of the display case. He grunted under the weight of the extraterrestrial rock, visibly hyperventilating at the energy the feat was draining from him. "See? Light as a feather!" The man felt his strength suddenly disappear as the meteorite slipped from his hands, dropping on his left foot. He bit down on his lip, trying to resist screaming in pain.

Daniel rolled his eyes, tossing a Pokeball. "Haxorus, put that meteorite back." The red-and-white sphere opened to reveal a large wingless, yellow-green bipedal dragon-like creature with small arms and a long tail. Its black-skinned torso, thighs, and tail tip stood in contrast to the armor that clothed much of its frame, its limbs armed with sharp red claws. Protruding from its upper jaw were two black axe blade-shaped tusks with red coating their edges. The Axe Jaw Pokemon quickly complied, lifting the exterrestrial rock from the visitor's foot and replacing it on the display case. "Let's move on, shall we?" Recalling his Haxorus, Daniel continued onwards, soon leading his group to the display that held the ornately canopied bed of the museum building's former owner.

The visitor pointed at the piece of antique furniture. "That is _not_ an old bed!"

Daniel sighed. "Yes, it is. It's several centuries old and dates back to the reign of the two princes."

The man scoffed. "That is just a flimsy modern reproduction. Watch!" He proceeded to climb onto the bed and began bouncing on its mattress. "See? What did I tell you? It's bouncy and has springs inside! Must be new!"

Daniel's eyes widened in alarm. "Don't!"

A particularly high bounce caused the man's frame to strike the bed's canopy, knocking the cloth out of alignment with the posts propping it up. The cloth canopy collapsed onto the mattress, wrapping the man up in its folds and causing him to roll onto the floor. He unwrapped his body from the cloth and threw it aside, stepping out to join the other visitors in Daniel's group. "What did I tell you?"

Daniel spoke, his calm, velvety voice disguising an underlying edge as sharp as a razor. "I think you should leave."

The man turned his back to the tour group and walked away. "GLADLY! THIS MUSEUM IS CHEAP!"

"I'm going to need some headache medication after this..." Daniel turned his attention to the rest of the visitors in his group. "Actually, the bed's authentic. The mattress decayed long ago so we had to quickly get a new one. Alright, everyone. Look, and _don't touch_."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 7:30 p.m.)_

Nicolas cupped his chin as he stood at the display of the Black Prince's robes, gazing at one of the man's most valuable possessions, a scale from Zekrom. "Ah Zekrom, the Pokemon that represents Unova's future."

The man raised an eyebrow as he heard his sister's voice speak behind him. "And the dragon of the Black Prince, the most hated scumbag to ever live."

"Hmmm... True, but he did usher in a period of mass technological advancement for Unova." Sophie opened her mouth to speak, but her brother cut her off. "Even if it was to find more creative and _interesting_ ways to kill people. Besides, Zekrom would not have been created if the two princes didn't get into that foolish argument of theirs. It's their fault the original dragon split in two and Unova was turned upside down."

"What? If I recall correctly, the White Prince wanted no part in this! He was only..."

"...trying to protect the people. The only one that kept them from being completely at the Black Prince's mercy, I know. You respect that man too much, sis. I think you must have said that at least a thousand times now."

"It's true, no? He and his dragon only fought because they had to."

Nicolas rolled his eyes. "Come off it, sis. The White Prince isn't completely innocent. He had so many opportunities to stop what the Black Prince was doing and did he?"

"Well, he did lessen the impact of some of those actions. The Black Prince was crafty and managed to get past his brother on a few occasions, don't you remember? Besides, I hear Zekrom went around eating the bodies of those it killed."

"What do you expect? The Black Prince occasionally fed his Pokemon, including the dragon, human flesh. I think Zekrom and Kyurem wound up inheriting that habit from the dragon. The dragon itself must have been quite messed up. After all, it had two masters. It aided one of them in performing acts of goodwill and assisted the other in committing atrocities."

"Why are you so interested in that dragon? It was responsible for destroying much of the region shortly after it was born! Like master, like Pokemon."

"I'm intregued by how different the two dragons are! They came from the same Pokemon after all. In addition, Zekrom represents Unova's bright future. A future that coming fast, and one that you seem liable to sleep through! Now, why are _you_ so interested in the other dragon? It pursued Zekrom all over the place trying to stop it, and only caused destrcution of its own! You heard about what it did to the Moor of Icirrus and the musketeer trio! Like I said, it's not completely innocent! Oh wait, that's right. You like it only because it belonged to the White Prince and was the really benevolent one." said Nicolas.

Sophie glared at her brother, beginning to close the distance between them with a confrontational stance. "For your information, that dragon's name is Reshi-"

"ALRIGHT, YOU TWO, BREAK IT UP! BREAK IT UP! HAXORUS!" Before Sophie and Nicolas realized it, they were both held a short distance apart from each other by the small arms of the Axe Jaw Pokemon. Arms crossed, Daniel stepped out from behind the shadow of his Haxorus and gave the two siblings a look of disapproval. "I just had a bad experience with a visitor, so my blood pressure's way up right now. You two are really passionate about that argument, aren't you?" Daniel lowered his arms and sighed, turning to his Pokemon. "Release them." The Axe Jaw Pokemon complied, though she continued to stand in the space seperating the siblings. "I had an argument like it with Rory earlier today."

"What happened?" asked Sophie.

"The Doctor yelled at us for it."

Sophie shrugged. "Didn't expect him to be the sort to do that."

"He's full of surprises."

"That much is evident. I heard he detoxed himself in a very unusual way after being poisoned."

"Yes, he did. Anyway, consider yourselves lucky that people just started coming in and haven't reached this corridor yet. If they see you arguing..."

"We know, we know. We'll disgrace the museum."

Daniel stared at the Black Prince's claymore, giving the sword a thoughtful gaze. "That sword has a lovely sheen. Hard to believe such an elegant weapon killed so many people and Pokemon."

"It's a weapon, that's to be expected. Hard to believe the White Prince's claymore has never taken a life." Sophie gave the Black Prince's claymore a closer look. "Its blade reminds me of a dark hole, it looks like it could suck all the light out of an area. The White Prince's sword had the opposite effect, radiating light from its blade. I think it would have made a fine torch."

"With an attribute like that, I sometimes wonder why we haven't been able to find it yet. But we do know that the White Prince took good care of it."

"The guests have arrived, right?" asked Nicolas.

The man's eyes widened as a girl's voice spoke out. "Yes, they have. Aren't you eager? Want to show off to them or something, Nicolas?"

Nicolas closed his eyes, not bothering to turn his back to face the newcomer. "Oh, be quiet, Skylar."

"You're such a showoff. I heard about how you tried to mooch up to the Doctor during Lenora's test when you got him to complain about Sophie and told her off in front of him."

"So what?"

Skylar rolled her eyes. "It's so obvious even a Slowpoke can see it. You just want to climb up the scientific community's ladder faster. I can tell you that this isn't the right way."

Sophie chuckled. "Believe me, I've been trying to tell him that for years."

Nicolas narrowed his eyes, irritated at the teasing. "Will you both quit it?"

"Need I get Haxorus involved again?" deadpanned Daniel.

Before anyone could respond, Daniel's attention was drawn by a woman's voice. "Daniel?"

Turning to the source of the voice, Daniel found himself face-to-face with its speaker. "Oh, Professor Juniper." He nodded at the person next to the woman. "And you too, Fennel."

"Are you ready to go? I'm going to fetch the Doctor as well before we head down."

Daniel recalled his Axe Jaw Pokemon with a nod. "Yes, of course."

"Where are you all going?" asked Sophie.

"You'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I suggest you three get to the auditorium. The guests are about to give their speeches and dedications. I told Spencer too, but I don't know where he went." Without another word, Professor Juniper turned her back on her assistants and left with Fennel and Daniel, leaving them confused in her wake.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Bathroom, January 8, 2011, 7:30 p.m.)_

Standing in a location he was sure held no cameras, Adam hid in a locked bathroom stall as he held a walkie-talkie to his ear, receiving a transmission from the person on the other side of the line. "Is the target in position, Adam?"

Adam nodded. "Roger."

"Who says that now? It's as antiquated as people making calls in a bathroom stall to avoid being detected."

Adam gritted his teeth. "Shut up, Felix."

From the other end of the line, Adam could hear Felix chuckle, causing a frown to appear on his own face. "Did I touch a nerve? So that must be where you are! Oho! I most certainly thought you'd find a better place to hide just so you could hear my sweet and charming voice."

"I'm not even going to gratify that comment with a response."

"Then we'll move in on _his_ orders. The signal should be quite clear. You know where to meet us and what to do before then." The clothes of member of the cleaning crew covering his researcher's outfit, Adam exited the bathroom stall as Felix cut off the call.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 7:45 p.m.)_

Amy's arms wrapped themselves protectively around her egg case as she paced about the corridors of the museum, noting that they were starting to fill with people. Her arms tightened themselves around the container, fear that she would drop it etched upon her face. Without warning, a pair of hands clapped her shoulders from behind, causing her to jump, nearly causing her to drop the egg case. She spun around, coming face-to-face with her imaginary friend and her husband.

The Doctor let out a low chuckle at her skittishness. "Nice to see you too, Pond." The woman gritted her teeth at the scare and attempted to kick the Time Lord on his bruised shin, but he casually sidestepped the move.

Amy huffed. "You almost made me drop my egg, Doctor!"

The Doctor waved his companion's concerns off with a dismissive hand gesture. "Relax, Amy. What do you think the case is for? To gather dust? Although, that wouldn't be such a bad purpose, gathering dust. There's a lot of things dust can tell you about the universe. Specks of dust could be millions, no, billions, no, _trillions_ of years old, and contain secrets as to how this world was created, yet why do we not stop to think about that? And each speck has plenty of molecules composing it. Have you ever wondered what would happen if they all separated and went, you know, _unmoleculely_? Just where would they go?"

"Are you going to ramble on all night, Doctor?" asked Amy, slightly annoyed by the length of his monolouge.

"Well, what else shall I do? Rory and I just spent the last few minutes shaking peoples' hands at the entrance foyer."

Amy smirked. "That's it? The Doctor, protector of Earth, and all of time and space, reduced to being a _mere_ greeter at a social event? Oh, how the mighty have fallen..."

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but was caught off-guard by a woman's voice speaking behind him. "Doctor?"

The Time Lord turned to face the speaker, nodding in acknowledgement when he discerned her identity. "Professor Juniper." The Doctor soon noticed the people accompanying the woman, and moved to greet them accordingly."Oh, hello Fennel, Daniel."

"We have some time before the guest speakers give their presentation, and the visitors are asked to go to the auditorium. Are you coming with us? It's about what we discussed earlier."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course."

Rory raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Doctor? What's going on?"

The Time Lord looked to his right for a distraction, his eyes widening at two people recognizable to him. "Oh look, people we know. Why don't you two go and say hello, or whatever it is you humans do in this situation?" Rory and Amy gave the Doctor a hesitant look, causing him to frown. "Well, go on." He pressed his hands into the couple's backs, pushing them into the people and knocking all of them over. "Oops... Maybe I used too much force... Oh well..." The Time Lord shrugged and walked away, moving to join Professor Juniper, Fennel, and Daniel.

The couple groaned before haring a male voice speak out from underneath them. "Rory? Amy?" Noticing who they were currently crushing wih their weight, Rory and Amy hastily moved to stand up and let them recover.

Rory held out a hand to lift the two from the floor. "Hello, Nathen, Miri."

Nathen took Rory's hand, using it as leverage to lift himself off the floor. "Not that it isn't nice to see you again, but what are you two doing here? Wait, the Doctor's one of those researchers that was invited to the event, am I right?"

Rory nodded. "He's just about the reason we go places, it seems."

"That applied to a lot of researchers and their assistants." replied Miri, causing Rory to notice that she was still lying prone on the floor."

The nurse attempted to repeat his gesture to assist the reporter, but Nathen beat him to the punch. "I can't possibly ask you to do more work, Rory. Allow me." Streaks of red appeared across Miri's face as she allowed Nathen to pull her to her feet. "Speaking of the Doctor, where did he go? I saw him push you guys into us and leave with Professor Juniper."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Professor Juniper wanted to show the Doctor something important. So important that we can't be told what it is."

Amy sighed. "The Doctor gets to look at all the cool stuff sometimes and leaves us somewhere he thinks is safe."

"That happens with some great finds. Reduces the risk of too many people knowing before a formal reveal or something like that." replied Nathen.

"So why are you two here?" asked Amy.

"Oh, apart from the launch event, my parents are guest speakers, here to give a lecture on the recent findings at the Relic Castle. They're researchers like the Doctor."

"Who are they?"

"Zachary and Mai Pierce. Has the Doctor heard of them?"

"I don't think so." said Amy

"That's strange. And here I thought researchers are in the know of each other's findings. Anyway, they'll probably mention it in their speech, but they first met right here in this building during a presentation, you know."

Miri's eyes widened. "Really? That's so romantic! When was this? What was the presentation about?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "And you wonder why the Doctor is so keen on procrastinating that interview you want to have with him, Miri."

"What, he doesn't like reporters?"

"He's a very private person."

"Does he have kids?"

"He wouldn't say. If he did, I think they're all dead."

"To have kids and lose them when he's so young, that's really tragic."

Nathen shrugged. "Well, being researchers, my parents were keen on getting their children interested in Unova's history. It certainly worked for me."

Rory nodded. "I still remember that day you gave those passionate comments on the princes and their dragons."

"Yes, it's a fascinating story, isn't it? It's a shame my brother isn't here. But then again, he didin't care too much about history, so my parents kinda gave up on trying to teach him."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Maxwell. Have you met him?"

"I can't say I have, sorry." said the nurse.

"He's travelling the region as well, so it's a possibility." replied Nathen.

"I won't doubt that."

"They also decided not to try with my sister, Kayla, after Maxwell's disinterest. Though she is just a baby."

"Was she?" asked Amy.

Nathen nodded. "Yeah, named after my ancestor, which the Black Prince almost caused to miscarry. If it weren't for the White Prince, my family might not be alive today."

"Your family seems indebted to him."

"The child that was born to my ancestors was named after the White Prince. Too bad his name has been lost to time."

Miri tapped Nathen on the shoulder. "Nathen, you said that I could interview your parents after they were done with their speeches."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Did I?"

"Yes, you did."

Nathen quickly winked at Rory and Amy before cupping his chin in apparent deep thought. "Hmmm... I don't recall."

"You told me that I could. It's why you _dragged_ me here."

"I did not."

Miri pouted. "You did so!"

Nathen let out a subtle chuckle. "I'm quite sure I didn't."

Miri began to whine. "You're so annoying!"

Nathen smirked. "My, aren't you all worked up?"

The reporter felt her face grow red at the boy's comment. "S-Stop-p i-it, N-Nathen!" Miri's response elicited a light chuckle from Amy, who proceeded to elbow her husband gently, reminded of moments like it in their relationship.

Nathen shrugged, turning to Rory. "Anyway, your egg hatch, Rory?"

The nurse nodded. "It did. Into an Audino."

"Congratulations. I think it fits you as a nurse."

"That's what the Doctor said."

"And he would be right."

Miri perked up. "Speaking of eggs, I thought I saw you hold one a minute ago, Amy."

Amy's eyes widened in panic as she looked down on her hands and saw that her egg case was missing. "What? I had it before the Doctor..." The woman was cut off as she heard an object roll down the floor at the end of the corridor. A few shrieks from the distance was enough to tell her that the object had been tripping up several people. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 8 p.m.)_

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Professor Juniper led him, Fennel, and Daniel to a door labelled for staff only, flanked by two guards. "The launch event seems to be going smoothly, Professor Juniper. So why did you call me down here?"

Professor Juniper nodded. "Remember when I said that I had something really important to show you? So important that our assistants don't know about it? Well, I'm going to show you. We're keeping it a secret until the guest speakers have finished dedicating the exhibits. Then we'll unveil it in front of the masses."

"Considering how important it is, is that a good idea?"

"Relax, the security we have here today is top-notch."

The professor pressed her hand against a scanner next to the door, opening it for them to enter first. Before she could do so, a guard stopped her. "Is it a good idea to let that man near that priceless artifact?"

Professor Juniper stood firm. "His name is Daniel."

"He is a criminal."

"He _was_ a criminal. There is a big difference between a person's status in the past and present."

"It's the truth that he committed a number of small-time crimes."

"And it's the truth that he reformed."

"What sweet talk did he feed you to make you believe that?"

"He _has_ reformed."

The guard crossed his arms. "To you, that is. It'll be an inevitable truth that he will commit again."

"What would the White Prince say if he saw you twist his belief like that?"

A voice spoke out from behind them. "He would be curious about the intricacies of said twist. Of which there can be very many, let me assure you of that. And then, _and then_, he determines that Daniel has reformed."

Professor Juniper spun around to face the source of the voice, finding it peeping from the open door. "Doctor!"

The guard stood unimpressed. "How would you know? You're not the White Prince."

The Doctor beamed. "Launch event for some artifacts at a museum, being led away from assistants, going through a door for staff, and my brain just went 'what the hell' **(1)**?"

"What?"

"My line. My line. Don't touch my line."

Professor Juniper chuckled weakly. "Okay then, let's just get moving."

The Doctor tilted his head to the side. "Oh no, how about some idle chatter? Come on..." The professor simply pushed the Time Lord through the door, closing it behind them. The room beyond the door was a moderately sized antechamber, with several artifacts stored in shelves of boxes. At the end of the room laid a high security steel door, which was open, revealing a small space behind it.

Daniel peered around the room. "This room was once the study of the fellow that originally owned this place. That door at the end leads to our vault, where we keep our the most precious artifacts we don't display."

The Time Lord gazed at a curious feature in the antechamber, a small rectangular protrusion at floor level from the side wall at the end of the room near the steel door. The protrusion was seemingly plastered over and painted in the same white color as the chamber's wall. "What's that?"

"That? We have no idea. It has always been there since the building was around. Who knows what its purpose is."

The Doctor turned to Fennel. "You sure don't find a structure like that in a building like this, do you?"

Fennel shrugged. "Well, apparently, someone decided to build one here."

"Doesn't look like something accurate to the time."

"It's been there for centuries. It must be."

"Strange place to put something like that, isn't it?"

"Maybe not. The people back then could have some purpose in mind. It may not be odd at all."

"It looks like it could be a hiderance rather than a benefit, sticking form the wall like that. Someone could trip over it."

"We're not sure of it's purpose. For all we know, that might be its function."

"To trip people over?"

"People back then did some really curious things, you know."

The Doctor sighed, relegated to his thoughts._ "Fennel didn't realize the truth I was trying to get her to acknowledge. Strange, I'm usually good, no, the best at this. She__ never once questioned how strange that protrusion is, and just accepted it as a fact of life. There's definitely a perception filter _**(2)**_ here. Only firm seekers of the truth can spot them easily. No doubt whoever set it up had something to hide."_ He returned his gaze to the protrusion, letting his mind wander.

_A man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties sat in a simple wooden chair. In his hands was a single silvery white feather with the feel of fine silk. He stroked the feather with his fingers as another man wearing wore long, flowing formal red robes paced the room in front of him. An unusual flower-like golden collar adorned his head and neck._

_The formally dressed man cast a glance at the blonde haired man. "Truth and ideals can work together. Why did you have to be so stubborn and think otherwise? You may have been highly respected by the people of Unova, but do not forget that you are still a boy!"_

_The blonde haired man briefly faced the other man before returning his attention to his feather. "Truth and ideals... Do they really work together, hmmm?"_

_"I do not know if you are trying to cause more trouble than you have, and frankly, I am not about to get into that discussion with you today. But i__f you feel so inclined, then go and search when the dust has sufficiently settled. However, I warn you, what you find may be very far from the truth you desire. Find the file if you can." The blonde haired man did not utter a word, continuing to fiddle with the white feather in his hands._

The Doctor found the image escape his mind as Hawes emerged from the vault, walking over to Professor Juniper. "Professor Juniper. We've set it up, just like you requested."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Alright, follow me." She led the other researchers through the door to the vault, coming to a stop at a display case topped with glass. Within the glass, a purple pillow was laid on the case's stand, on which rested a white sphere of stone the size of a softball.

Daniel's eyes widened in amazement. "Is that?" Standing behind the other researchers and sensing the answer to Daniel's question, the Doctor reached into his tweed jacket and removed the silvery white feather from the small red jewelry box he placed it inside. He stretched out his right arm towards the stone orb, his right hand clutching the feather. The Time Lord's right hand and feather glowed cobalt-blue for a second, before he dissipated the light, wary of anyone else in the room noticing it. He brought his arm back toward his body and replaced the feather in the jewelry box stashed in his pocket, a visible frown crossing his visage.

Unaware of the Doctor's actions, Professor Juniper nodded. "It is. We found it atop a pedestal somewhere deep in the basement of the Relic Castle. This is the Light Stone, the core of the White Prince's dragon, Reshi-" Before she could finish, the professor was cut off as Hawes rushed over to her, pushing a small cart.

"Professor Juniper? We're ready to start now. We need you to bring up the Light Stone to the backstage area of the auditorium."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Understood." The glass top of the display case was removed as the white stone sphere was placed on the cart with its pillow underneath. The sphere was topped with the same glass top as Hawes pushed the cart away. "Hawes will be bringing the Light Stone to the auditorium's backstage area. The last guest speaker will be the one to unveil it to the audience. Now that you've seen it, I suggest you all hurry to the auditorium so you can all get good seats." The professor gave the Doctor a sly smile. "Or just let your assistants reserve them for you." The Time Lord chuckled in response, leaving Fennel and Daniel to roll their eyes at his behavior.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Auditorium, January 8, 2011, 8:30 p.m.)_

Rory and Amy walked into the auditorium, alerted to the fact that a number of guest speakers were soon to give speeches. Finding a number of vacant seats, the couple sat down, sure to leave a place next to them for the Doctor. Before Rory could fully settle in, he noticed a familar face sitting directly in front of him. "Szac? I see you've recovered."

The boy nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, a few days ago, actually. Thanks for the treatment."

"Like I said, it's my job."

"Where's the Doctor? He's one of the researchers that got invited here, right?"

"Yeah. He'll be here soon."

As if on cue, the Doctor burst into the room. Immediately noticing his companions, he began the process of shoving aside several people to reach them, ignoring the protests that erupted in his quest to reach their seats. "Blimey, can you lot believe this crowd? It's like trying to waddle through custard, which is quite a delectable experience, if I do say so myself."

"What, you tried doing that?" asked Amy, only to receive a nod from the Time Lord. "Nevermind, I don't want to know..."

The Doctor shrugged. "Fine, but waddling through people, now that isn't so, ummm..., delectable. Or tasty for that matter. But custard is good, especially when you dip fish fingers in it."

"That sounds disgusting." muttered Szac, drawing the attention of the Time Lord.

"Oh, Szac! Fancy seeing you here. But let me absolutely assure you that fish fingers and custard makes a cool combination. Don't bark until you've tried it."

Szac shrugged. "I'll, er, just take your word for it."

The Doctor's eyes were drawn to the podium in front of the room, as a familar woman walked up to it. "Oh, Lenora's speech is starting."

Lenora adjusted the microphone to neck length before enounciating a number of specially memorized lines. "Ladies and gentlemen. It is my sincerest honor to welcome all of you to the Nacrene Museum on this very special occasion. Today...

The Time Lord clicked his fingers and turned to his companions. "If you two would excuse me, I have some important matters to attend to."

Amy huffed. "At the start of Lenora's speech? That's rude! You just came inside here! Did you forget to go to the bathroom, Doctor?"

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

Amy rolled her eyes, arms wrapped securely around her egg case. "And don't think I forgot about how you almost caused me to lose my egg!"

The Doctor sighed. "Like I said, what's the case for? Your egg wasn't damaged, was it?"

"Wait, you're leaving, Doctor? Don't you have a speech to give?" asked Szac.

The Time Lord shrugged. "No, but I could come up with one. Now if you'll excuse me." The Doctor stood up from his seat and proceeded to stride out of the room, not bothering to make his exit discreet. As he approached the auditorium's double doors, he sensed several eyebrows raised in disapproval of his behavior, but decided to ignore them.

The Doctor left the auditorium and rushed down the corridors of the museum, eventually reaching the room Professor Juniper had led him to. Hiding behind a corner of the nearest corridor, he sighed upon noticing the two guards at the door, noting that a distraction might be required. The Time Lord pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at a display case in front of the guards, turning on the device. A quick whistling sound was enough to let its owner know that the sonic screwdriver had done its job, as the glass top of the display case suddenly shattered, the security camera overhead letting out sparks before malfunctioning. Alerted to the problem, the two guards rushed over to the damaged display case, giving the Doctor an opening to rush towards the door. He nimbly took out his psychic paper and pressed it against the palm scanner **(3)**. The cackling and sparks given out by the malfunctioning security camera was enough to disguise the beeping let out by the scanner to inform the Doctor that he had been granted access. The Time Lord quickly swung opened the door and slipped inside the antechamber, closing it without a sound.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Streets, January 8, 2011, 8:30 p.m.)_

Outside the Nacrene Museum, Felix smirked as his clipped his walkie-talkie to his belt, turning to a number of assembled Plasma grunts. "Alright, we'll move in now. Swift as a Samurott's sword."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Auditorium, January 8, 2011, 8:40 p.m.)_

As Lenora's speech continued, Skylar's gaze wandered to the window in boredom, her eyes soon widening as she caught sight of a curious feature in the sky. "That black cloud with blue lightning sparking aound it, just like the legends have said... It's Zekrom! Zekrom's attacking the museum!"

Nicolas raised an eyebrow. "Zekrom?"

Skylar led the man to the window. "See for yourself if you're so interested in it."

Szac narrowed his eyes. "If the legends are true, I bet it's simply interested in killing all of us!"

"_If_ the legends are true." muttered Sophie.

"You're a researcher, you should know them."

"True."

Nicolas did as he was told by Skylar, his mouth dropping open in shock as he saw the hurricane eye-shaped black cloud in plain sight, occupying much of the night sky. The surrounding clouds appeared to be drawn into its mass, giving onlookers the impression that it was growing in size with every second. The blue lightning bolts emitted from the cloud was enouh to convince the usually discerning man. "That is Zekrom!"

Nicolas' outburst prompted the rest of the audience to look, the crowd soon descending into mass panic as they peered out of the room's windows to see for themselves. The cloud fired off several lightning bolts at the musuem building, leaving dark scorch marks where they struck its facade.

"Okay, _maybe_ it does want to kill us." said Sophie.

Amy sighed. "That's _reassuring_."

A woman screeched in fear. "Where's the White Prince's dragon when we need it? Where's Reshi-" She was silenced as small explosions sounded, triggering the museum's alarm, its ringing echoing throughout the building.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Entrance Foyer, January 8, 2011, 8:40 p.m.)_

Out of the range of any security cameras, Adam hid in the corner of a wall leading directly into the museum's entrance foyer. He knew that the connecting section of the building had four cameras, and if he was to proceed, he would have to wait. Soon enough, his ears perked up as he heard the sharp cackling of electricity, followed by the museum's alarm sounding. A small but pronounced explosion informed him that one of the four security cameras had been disabled, courtesy of the electricity being emitted from the black hurricane eye-shaped cloud outside. Two similar explosions followed as the man readied himself.

Upon hearing the fourth and final camera explode from the electricity overload, Adam rushed into the entrance foyer, taking up a position behind two security guards, who had their backs to him. In their confusion, the guards failed to notice the threat of Adam right behind them, all their attention focused on Felix and the other invading Plasma grunts streaming in through the museum's entrance. With a quick movment of his arm, Adam swiped the truncheon from a guard's belt and brought the black steel club down on the backs of the mens' craniums. The two guards fell face forward to the floor, consciousness having evaded them. The sound of the alarm continued to echo throughout the building as iron grates descended down from the ceiling at the end of the foyer, signifying the facility being put on lockdown, denying the Plasma grunts access to the museum's interior.

Felix rolled his eyes. "They fell like two leaves on an autumn day... No, two lead weights from a skyscraper's roof."

"Don't you get poetic on me."

"I'm doing my job, you failed yours, remember? How did the Doctor survive getting posioned with cyanide of all things?"

"I don't know!"

Felix shrugged. "Regardless, I brought your disguise for you." Felix gestured to a Plasma grunt, who laid out a Team Plasma uniform and a blank theatre-esque silver mask with no emotion. "Well, your _other_ disguise. You're already in one, Spen-... I mean, Adam. Aren't I charming?"

"I beg to differ. And besides, it's Spencer while I'm in this position! And keep your voice down! What if those cameras picked up what we're saying?"

"In case you forgot, those cameras have gone kaput like a fish floating belly-up in the water. They'll never work again. And be a dear and keep quiet while the operation in going on, will you? You're as incriminating as a squaking Chatot."

"What was that?"

"Are your ears as dysfunctional as a family in a soap opera? No matter. Did anyone notice you sneak out of the auditorium?"

"I doubt it. I had a seat near the door."

"Maybe you should head back there before anyone notices that you're gone then. It's like you never left. Like a faithful wife, put it that way."

Adam groaned. "That was such a bad analogy. Besides, what's the point of the outfit if I'm going to mingle with those stuffy reseachers again?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "It's for you to change into when this whole place descends into mayhem, that's what! Anyway, you took care of the floors?"

"Finished it shortly before you showed up."

"That was too close for time."

"Try disguising yourself as a cleaner and see how fast you can do the job then."

Felix scoffed. "Faster than a speedy Zebstrika." He heard several rushing footsteps from within the museum corridors as guards tried to mobilize, only for surprised shrieks to follow, accented by dull thuds. "If that went nicely, they should be out like like flickering lights. And concussed like a hundred Psyducks." Several small explosions followed Felix's comment, ostentiably caused by electricity from the cloud shorting out the rest of the museum's security cameras.

The figure donned in a black hooded cloak stepped forward. "Alright, enough of this." He held his hands outward, creating a colbalt-blue sphere of energy which he proceeded to fire at the grate which closed off the entrance foyer, blowing a large hole into it. Three more spheres of energy followed, each wideneing the hole, each increasing the access for the Plasma grunts. "Now move!" Following the command, the Plasma grunts slipped pass the grate, into the confines of the museum building. Adam grabbed the clothes Felix had left him, rushing back to the auditorium so he could slip in unnoticed.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Museum Gallery, January 8, 2011, 8:40 p.m.)_

Using his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor took care to disable the security cameras in the antechamber behind the "Staff Only" door, before unclipping his Pokeballs and sending out his three Pokemon. They looked at him in slight confusion, questioning his presence in the museum's artifact storeroom. "Well, I'm here because there's something I'm very, very sure of, and I just need the confirmation. And you three will be my witnesses." He proceeded to walk up to the curious protusion that so intregued him a short while ago.

"I haven't done this in a while, but considering who it is for..." The Time Lord turned to his Pokemon. "Alright, stand back." Standing a meter from the protrusion, the Doctor held his arms out, tilted downwards so his palms could face the curious feature attached to the wall, wincing slightly as he flexed the fingers of his injured left hand. The Time Lord took a deep breath and exhaled sharply as his hands burst into sharp and vibrant red flames, yet he showed no sign that they bothered him in the slightest. His Pokemon on the other hand, began to step aside, feeling the heat radiating off their Trainer's body. Focusing on the feature, he shot the flames directly onto it, keeping them burning for a minute. Successfully incinerating the plaster, the Doctor extinguished the flames and peered at his handiwork, noticing that the feature was composed of stones cemented together with mortar.

The Doctor put down his backpack and reached inside, drawing out a sheathed claymore with an ivory-white blade. _"I could go for the direct method, but that might damage whatever is inside."_ Unsheathing the sword, he grasped it by the handle, quickly dropping the weapon in surprise as the ringing of an alarm and a few small explosions penetrated his ears. _"That's the museum's alarm! Someone must have broken in!" _A quick gaze to his antsy Pokemon told them to remain calm as he reached into his backpack again, removing a geologist's hammer and stone chisel. He turned to his Pokemon. "Well, when you're travelling through the region, you can't be _too prepared_." Resting the chisel on the direct center of the protusion, the Time Lord struck it with his hammer, causing a crack to form in the stone. A few more strikes deepened the crack and created several minor ones radiating from it.

When he was satisfied with the depth of the crack, the Doctor picked up his claymore again, pointing to the stone protrusion. "Alright, Oshawott, Water Gun! Make sure the whole thing is drenched." The Sea Otter Pokemon lauched a forceful shot of water from its mouth, soaking the rectangular protrusion. The Time Lord proceeded to sink the lower part of the claymore's white blade into the crack, chuckling softly to himself. _"If the other researchers can see me now, they would be horrified by what I'm doing with one of Unova's most famous weapons." _Followed by his Pokemon, the Doctor backed away from the protusion as far as could, stretching out his right arm towards the sword. Red flames erupted from his hand, before they quickly intensified to white as the Doctor increased his focus, shooting the white fire at the claymore, turning its blade crimson. Sensing what was to come next, the Time Lord turned his back on the protrusion and scooped his Pokemon into his arms, crouching down to protect them and make himself as small as possible. Seconds passed before a loud explosion was heard, and the Doctor cringed as moderately sized fragments of stone struck him in the back.

As the dust settled, the Doctor got to his feet, dusting himself off. He strode over to what remained of the protrusion, noticing that it was completely blown apart, with scorch marks on the surrounding wall. He kicked aside the stone fragments, finding a simple steel box among them. _"So that's what was hidden here."_ The Time Lord opened the box, finding a manila folder containing several sheets of typed paper with slight charring along their edges. The Doctor's eyes widened as he held up another of the folder's contents, a silvery white feather which felt like smooth silk. Fumbling in his pockets, he retrieved his own feather from the jewelry box, comparing the two. _"They're identical!"_ He grinned from ear to ear before replacing his feather in the small box, and stashing the other in the manila folder. Closing the steel box, he shoved it into his backpack. Noticing his claymore on the floor, blade still red-hot, he turned to Oshawott. "Use Water Gun and cool down the blade."

As the Sea Otter Pokemon followed the command, the Doctor noticed Snivy and Tepig give him curious looks. He stared at the pile of rubble he created. "I suppose I could spare a quick explaination. It's simple, really. Some rocks are porous, see, so they can soak up a considerable amount of water. And by considerable, I mean lots and lots and lots! Find a way to heat the wet rock, and you make the water boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which creates steam at high pressure. The rocks are basically enclosed areas, and heating them will make them expand. The molecules of rocks are all packed together very tightly, tighter than sardines in a can, so the pressure has nowhere to go easily, and it finds an escape by making the rock explode." The Time Lord threw his arms outward. "And by explode, I mean BLAM!, KABOOM!, POW, RIGHT TO THE MOON! Well, maybe not the moon, but possibly the ceiling." The Doctor gazed at his sword, noticing that Oshawott had finished cooling it off. The blade resumed its ivory-white sheen, showing no sign that it was ever heated and used to destroy the protrusion. "Most swords exposed to what this one experienced minutes ago would have at least had some charring on the blade. This weapon is something else. Of course, I learned that a long time ago." The Time Lord resheathed the weapon and stuffed it into his backpack, along with the tools he used to crack the protrusion. He turned to his Pokemon. "Let's go. Judging by the alarms, if I have to guess, nothing good has happened, and by the sound of those explosions, the cameras are out. The others might be in trouble." With his Pokemon, the Doctor tore out of the antechamber as more of the small explosions from overloaded security cameras were heard throughout the building.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Auditorium, January 8, 2011, 9 p.m.)_

**(Insert Music: All the Strange, Strange Creatures - Murray Gold)**

As the audience continued to reel from the sudden appearance of the cloud they associated with Zekrom, the double doors to the auditorium swung open, allowing several Plasma grunts to march into the room. The figure dressed in the black hooded cloak entered last, as the grunts stepped aside to allow him to stride right up to the front of the podium. The doors slammed shut, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the room.

Lenora's eyes caught sight of the sigil on the grunts' uniforms. "Team Plasma! What do you want?"

Although his expression was hidden by his hood, Lenora could tell that the figure had frowned. "WHERE IS THE DOCTOR? I KNOW HE'S HERE! COME OUT, DOCTOR, BEFORE I START SHOOTING ALL THE _NICE_ PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM!"

"Gee, he's popular." muttered Miri.

Rory sighed. "Trust me, he's wanted by a lot of people who want to kill or imprison him. Mostly imprison. Killing him won't do his enemies much good."

"Why?"

"Long story."

Before Miri could respond, a voice blasted through the speakers on either side of the podium, echoing within the confines of the room. "Hello! Can you all hear me? Nod if the answer's yes!" A few members of the audience complied, and Amy could swear that the speaker was now scratching his head. "Hmmm... Dunno why I just said that. It's not like I can see you all from where I am. But I can hear you all perfectly well."

"That's the Doctor!" exclaimed Rory.

The nurse could swear that he heard the Time Lord's voice chuckle before it continued to speak. "Correct, Rory. I don't think it takes a genius to deduce that, which by the way is a distinguished membership I have the privilege of belonging to, and most of you do not."

Rory scratched his head, briefly running the Doctor's words through his mind before he realized what the Time Lord meant. "Hey!"

"Took you look enough to figure that out, thus confirming what I just said. I'm a genius, plain and simple. And a number of you don't seem to be. Else you all would not be in that perilous position Team Plasma has placed you lot in. And here I thought you were the bright one, Rory." The nurse felt the heat rush to his face as he realized that the Doctor was calling him out in a room full of people. "And to you lot by the door, yes, you all pretending not to hear me. Look over here at the speakers because I AM TALKING!"

Szac raised an eyebrow. "If he can't see us, how does the Doctor know that there are Plasma grunts by the door?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "How else could they have come into the room? Through the window?"

"That's a distinct possibility." replied Szac, causing the woman to roll her eyes.

The Doctor continued to talk. "I daresay you've all made quite an impression at this event. Your intrusion was surprising, frightening, unexpected, and frankly, you... Whoa! Ow!" Unable to see his current predicament, several members of the audience raised their eyebrows at the Doctor's shriek of pain. "Urgh, blimey, why did they wax the floors at this time? Honestly, now. Someone could slip and fall on their bum..." Amy found a smirk creeping across her lips as she sketched a mental image of what was happening to the Time Lord at that very moment. "Then again, judging by what I can see, maybe the cleaning crew didn't wax the floor... Nevermind. Now where was I? Ah yes. You suceeded in making an utter splattering mess on the carpet of everyone's plans for the night. Kidnapping Pokemon today? Doesn't seem like it. But stealing artifacts? Now that's new. And history is meant to be sacrosanct here."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Stealing artifacts?"

Lenora gasped. "Why else would they break into the museum?"

The Doctor continued to talk as if the comments had not left their speakers' mouths. "I see guards lying in a daze everywhere, slipped up by the waxed floor, and some of you Plasma grunts are practically swarming the place, pulling off the Dragonite skull, wrapping up the Genesect fossil in plastic, lifting that Cover Fossil by the entrance foyer out of its display case. I understand the Cover Fossil, now who would steal a Dragonite skull or a Genesect fossil?"

Miri scratched her head as she jotted down notes. "Aren't those _more_ valuable than a Cover Fossil?"

Nathen shrugged, confusion crossing his features. "They are."

"So what's the Doctor talking about?"

"When does he ever make sense?"

Felix nodded at the cloaked figure. "He's here."

The figure threw his arms into the air. "I CAN TELL! No matter, even if he's not in this room, he must be somewhere in this building, and we have the museum firmly sealed off. He's got nowhere to run and hide. Caught in our trap, just like the rest of you."

The speakers continued to blast out the Doctor's voice for all present in the room to hear. "A trap? A trap, you say? How foolish. Didn't anyone ever tell you? There's one thing you never put in a trap."

Despite the tense situation she was immersed in, Amy felt it hard to resist letting out a sigh. "How _original_. He's using those lines again."

Fennel raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

"Like Rory said, it's a long story."

The Time Lord's voice continued to be blared out from the speakers. "If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you _never, ever_ put in a trap."

Professor Juniper stared at the speakers. "Those are some pretty big words the Doctor's using. But hey, he used words like these when he confronted Zekrom the first time I met him."

The double doors swung open, knocking aside several Plasma grunts standing in front of them. The audience diverted their attention to the doorway, gasping when they saw the Doctor, fingers clenched around his sonic screwdriver. Snivy and Tepig flanked his sides, while Oshawott stood a short distance behind the Time Lord. "Me **(4)**." He paused for a moment, taking advantage of the silence to allow his words to sink into the audience's memory. The Doctor never lost a beat as he walked into the room, accompanied by his Pokemon, every forward step of his frame breaking the silence with a punctuated tap on the hardwood floor. The Time Lord and his Pokemon came to a stop a meter from the cloaked figure as his lips curled themselves into a smile, his hand tossing the sonic screwdriver into the air and catching it. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, _run _**(5)**."

* * *

Author's notes: That's was one tough chapter to make flow properly, so I hope I succeeded in that regard. I'm been getting busier, but I'll try to structure my time more. Here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) This is a reference to a line spoken by the Doctor in the episode "A Christmas Carol", when he enters Kazran Sardick's home.

(2) A perception filter is a telepathic effect which misdirected the senses around itself or the person using it. As such, they are commonly used to disguise the nature of objects or individuals, making others view them as something else. Once a person became aware of a perception filter and the object it was disguising, they could no longer be affected by it. People who strongly desire to seek the truth behind an object of a perception filter's disguise, such as the Doctor, can see through them.

(3) Apart from its use in fooling people through posing as fake identification, the psychic paper can be used to bypass all sorts of scanners by being pressed against them.

(4) The lines at the start of the Doctor's speech to the Plasma grunts were spoken by him in the end of the episode "The Time of Angels". The lines were a warning to the Weeping Angels from the Doctor as to what would happen to anyone who ensnared him in a trap.

(5) This line was spoken by the Doctor to the Atraxi in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" after revealing to them who he is. Although they had information on his previous ten incarnations, they did not recognize his eleventh incarnation as he had just regenerated. They quickly complied upon discovering his identity.

My, it seems like I'm still taking OCs. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers and Nicolas Summers belong to yuukifan001.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**


	25. To Protect and Shield at Risk!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Any time you take a chance you better be sure the rewards are worth the risk because they can put you away just as fast for a ten dollar heist as they can for a million dollar job." _- Stanley Kubrick

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 25: To Protect and Shield at Risk!**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Auditorium, January 8, 2011, 9:10 p.m.)_

The smile never leaving his face after delivering a speech that surprised all in the auditorium, the Doctor turned to face a specific member of the audience. "You asked for a speech, didn't you? Now what did you think of that, Szac?"

Before the boy could answer, Amy beat him to the punch. "You just passed off some words you said before as a 'speech'. I was there, remember? Your papers identify you as a researcher. Well, as a researcher, ever heard of such a thing as_ plagiarizing yourself_, Doctor?"

Szac raised an eyebrow. "Wait, he used those exact words before?"

"More or less." replied Amy.

"Why would he have made a speech like that in the past? His words sound like a threat."

"You probably won't believe me if I told you."

The boy frowned. "Well, in any case, that's not very original. I thought researchers were supposed to be imaginative with their speeches. What a bad cliche."

The Doctor huffed. "Alright, if you two are done dissecting my choice of _creative, descriptive_ volcabulary, I believe I have something I have to take _good_ care of." He turned to look at the figure, only to come face-to-face with a cobalt-blue sphere of energy directly in his field of vision, floating in the narrow space between the figure's raised hand and his cranium. The Doctor yelped and darted to his left, almost tripping over his Tepig, just as the figure launched the sphere of aura, causing it to travese the distance of the room and smash into the far wall, leaving a sizeable hole. "Blimey! You should be careful with that, you know. You could have lopped someone's head off. Trust me, that's not a very pretty sight. In fact..."

The figure quickly generated another aura sphere in his hands, cutting the Doctor's sentence short. "SILENCE!" He shot the sphere at the Doctor's new position, causing the Time Lord to jump as the attack struck the floor under his feet, leaving a dark scorch mark.

"Whoa! Now that was a close one."

Nathen turned to Miri, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Quick, while those grunts are distracted, get my parents and the other guest speakers out of here!"

The reporter raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure they'll come with me?"

"Just tell them I sent you."

Miri nodded. "Alright, just be careful, Nathen."

Nathen shot the reporter a sly smirk. "Is that concern I detect, Miri?"

Miri shook her head rapidly as she tried to contain a blush creeping across her cheeks. "What? N-No... I-I j-just d-don't w-want to lose one of m-my t-top inerviewees-s, t-that's a-all."

"Right..."

As Miri left her seat in a bid to sneak to the people Nathen described, Lenora pulled out a Pokeball, tossing it from her position behind the podium. "You have no right to be here! Leave! Go, Watchog!" The Lookout Pokemon emerged from its Pokeball, staring down the figure. "Confuse Ray!" Watchog complied, its eyes glowing purple as it held its arms out toward the figure. Before the attack could strike him, the figure seemed to vanish, reappearing behing the Lookout Pokemon. Lenora opened her mouth to warn her Watchog, but the figure leapt into the air, extending his feet outward, connecting with the Watchog's back in a dropkick. The Doctor dived out of the way as the Lookout Pokemon sailed through the space he occupied a second ago. The Plasma grunts assembled at the door were forced to duck as Watchog slammed face-first into the far wall, crumpling to the floor in a messy heap. "WATCHOG!"

Lenora rushed from the podium to tend to her Pokemon, while the Doctor turned to people who remained in the room. "RUN!"

As the audience moved to comply with the Time Lord's order, Adam stood up from his seat near the door, easily blending in with the crowd exiting the auditorium. _"That was too easy. Now for a quick change of clothes..."_

Nicolas shook his head as a good portion of the audience left the room. "No, we have Pokemon too, why should we run?"

Fennel stared at Lenora, who had just finished recalling her injured Pokemon. "That man just took out one of the gym leader's Pokemon! I think that's just as good a reason to do so." No sooner had Fennel finished her sentence did the figure create a third aura sphere between his hands, hurling it at the Doctor.

The Time Lord barely managed to tilt his head to the right, breathing a sigh of relief as the sphere whizzed inches past his ear. "Okay, now I know you people are out to get me."

The figure pointed at the Time Lord in irritation. "GET HIM!"

"See?" No further words had the opportunity to escape the Doctor's mouth as the Plasma grunts in the room began to charge at him, but were quickly kept at bay by Tepig's Ember attack striking the floor in front of their feet. Extending her vines, Snivy lashed a few of the grunts across the legs with her Vine Whip, quickly felling them. Letting out a prolonged whistle, the Time Lord cocked his head to one side, casting the figure a quizzical look. "Is that the best you can do? I must warn you, I'm very agile for my age." He took a step forward, accidently catching his left foot against the leg of a chair, tripping and falling flat onto his face. Groaning slightly, the Doctor raised his head to face the figure. "Okay, to be frank, I'm also very clumsy. But if it would make you feel any better, feel free to exploit this disadvantage of mine." A quick glance to his right told him that Miri was leading the guest speakers out of the auditorium, taking advantage of the Plasma grunts' focus on him.

While the Doctor and his Pokemon faced the Plasma grunts, Professor Juniper's face belied urgency. "We have to get the Light Stone out of here to a safe spot! Has anyone seen Spencer?"

"He must have left with the rest of the audience. Anyway, you have the Light Stone here?" asked Sophie.

Lenora nodded. "We found it in the Relic Castle and planned on unveiling it later, but obviously, we can't do that anymore! Hawes!"

Emerging from the curtain behind the podium, Hawes pushed the cart that held the artifact, the sphere of stone resting on a pillow, capped with a cover of glass. "Right away!"

Turning his head, the figure cast his gaze upon the cart, his voice bellowing with anger. "STOP THEM!" Several Pokemon sent out by the Plasma grunts proceeded to surround the perimeter of the now mostly empty auditorium, slowly closing in on those that remained.

Lenora stared at the audience members who stayed. "Quick! Hold off those Plasma grunts with your Pokemon so we can get out of this room! Skylar, help Hawes push the cart!"

The girl did not hesitate, proceeding to fulfill her assigned task. "R-Right!"

Standing in front of the cart, Daniel fingered a Pokeball from his belt, staring at the Plasma grunts. "Seeing people like you lot brings me way back to a time when I wasn't as noble. But no more. Haxorus!" A flick of his wrist sent out the Axe Jaw Pokemon, her presence causing a few grunts to rethink their strategy. "Clear a path for us with Dragon Claw." The Axe Jaw Pokemon's claws were illuminated by a light blue shine as she ran at her opponents, swatting aside a few Watchog.

Felix chuckled, holding a Pokeball of his own, flinging it to release his Gengar. "Hmmm... Persistent as a blind Zweilous who bangs its heads against rocks to find food. AHAHAHAHA! It's laughable, really! Shadow, come out and play!" In between Haxorus and the door, the Gengar levitated a meter above the floor, staring at his opponent with a chuckle. "Be a dear and use Curse, will you?" The Gengar's eyes glowed red as Haxorus' body became outlined in an aura of the same color. The Axe Jaw Pokemon fell to her knees as she felt her strength slowly disappear.

"HAXORUS!"

Amy looked puzzled. "What's wrong with Haxorus?"

Having recovered from tripping on the chair leg, the Doctor pulled himself to his feet. "Curse is a move whose effects differ depending on the user's type. Used by non-ghost-type Pokemon, it reduces the user's Speed stat while raising its Attack and Defense stats. But when used by a ghost-type like Gengar, the user takes damage equal to half of its maximum health. In turn, the opponent will slowly lose its health in short periods, a quarter each time."

Szac removed a Pokeball of his own in response. "Houndoom, help Haxorus with Inferno!" The Dark Pokemon emerged from the red-and-white sphere, a light blue ball of fire visible in his open jaws. He launched his attack, the ball elongating into a light blue stream of fire, accented by dark blue rings of fire along its length.

Felix chuckled, sidestepping to his right. "AHAHAHAHA! Shadow, dodge it." The Gengar casually floated away from the path of the attack, drifting on its own volition until it was behind Szac. The Inferno attack continued onwards towards the auditorium's doors, nearly scorching Felix's clothes and striking a Purrloin who had the misfortune of standing in its path. The Devious Pokemon shrieked in pain as blue fire surrounded its frame.

The Doctor bit his lip as his Oshawott slipped up an approaching Patrat by wetting the floor with Water Gun. "Inferno may burn if it hits, but it is a rather inaccurate move... Tepig, Flame Charge!" The Fire Pig Pokemon envelopped himself in a cloak of fire, charging at and knocking aside a Herdier.

Felix pointed at Szac. "Shadow, use Shadow Ball...on that boy!" From behind Szac, the Gengar created a black and purple ball of energy between its hands, slinging it at the boy's back.

Szac could only utter three words as he perceived the Shadow Ball attack rapidly approaching his body. "Are you mental?" Those present in the room had little time to breathe as they stared wide-eyed at the attack.

Time appeared to slow for Sophie as she ran towards the boy. "NO!" She lunged at Szac with her arms outstretched, pushing him to the floor, just as the Shadow Ball soared over the tops of their heads, smashing a few nearby chairs to smithereens.

The Doctor pointed at Shadow. "Snivy, Leaf Tornado!" The Grass Snake Pokemon turned herself upside down, creating a leaf-filled tornado with a swish of her tail. The vortex of air travelled towards the Gengar, suceeding in sucking in and holding him for a few seconds.

Felix whistled. "Shadow, use Shadow Ball, will you?" The Gengar complied, firing his attack down on Snivy, breaking her concentration and forcing her to relax the grip of her tornado, enabling Shadow to break free from its confines.

"Mega Drain!" Ceasing her Leaf Tornado, Snivy extended the vines from her shoulders and wrapped them around Shadow's body. The dark green glow surrounding the vines was a clear indicator that Snivy was sapping his health.

Groaning slightly from his impact with the floor, Szac looked up at the girl who now laid on top of his frame. "Thanks, but I never got your name."

"It's Sophie, and you're welcome."

Szac chuckled slightly at their awkward position. "Well, Sophie, I'm Szac, and could you get off me now?"

His comment was met with equal nervousness from Sophie as she complied with the request. "R-Right..." Nicolas simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly at the scene.

Felix smirked, gazing at his Gengar, who had just managed to dislodge Snivy's vines and stop her Mega Drain attack. "That was as cute as a Purrloin tangled in yarn. Now Shadow, use Shadow Ball on that pesky Haxorus!" The Shadow Pokemon created another purple and black sphere of energy between his hands, slinging it at the weary Axe Jaw Pokemon.

Daniel began to mutter to himself. "Haxorus already lost a good amount of her health due to Curse... Dodge it!" Haxorus nodded weakly and leapt to her left, causing Shadow's attack to smash a hole into a wall.

Szac pointed at Shadow as he stood up. "I can't risk Inferno missing again at a time like this. Houndoom, distract that Gengar with Sludge Bomb!" The Dark Pokemon opened his mouth, shooting brown globules of sludge at the Shadow Pokemon. Shadow narrowed his eyes in irritation as the not very effective poison-type move struck his side.

Daniel gritted his teeth as he stared at his ailing Haxorus. "At this rate, due to that Gengar's Curse, Haxorus will be out like a light in a minute. Not to mention that the Gengar gave up a sizeable portion of his heath to use Curse. Better make this one count. Haxorus, Dragon Claw!"

Felix licked his lips. "If Shadow is to go down, he's taking your Haxorus with him, like a wife in an arranged marriage! Destiny Bond!" Mustering her remaining stregth, Haxorus charged at the Gengar, her claws bearing a light green shine. Shadow smirked as his body became outlined in purple, seconds before Haxorus raked her claws along his face, bfore raising her other arm to repeat the move. The Shadow Pokemon fell onto his back, his eyes swirly, but two purple lights emerged from his eyes, making contact with the Axe Jaw Pokemon. Haxorus became surrounded in a purple aura before she dropped onto her stomach, unconscious.

Daniel's eyes widened. "HAXORUS!" He held out his Pokemon's Pokeball, quickly returning her.

The Doctor nodded. "Destiny Bond is a move that knocks out the opponent if it causes the user to faint due to a direct attack."

Nathen seized the cart's handle, intending to offer help to those already assigned with pushing it. "While that guy is distracted, now's our chance!"

An arm tightly wrapped around her egg case, Amy held her only Pokeball in her other hand, tossing it. "Herdier, use Take Down!" Upon his emergence, the Loyal Dog Pokemon charged at Felix, focing him to dive to his right. Repelling any opposing Pokemon with his sides, Herdier stopped at the open doorway and barked. "Let's go!" The cart was pushed forward but several Plasma grunts stepped up to intercept it.

Szac stared at his Houndoom. "Hold them off with Sludge Bomb!" The Dark Pokemon fired off his attack at the floor, creating a few puddles of sludge.

Sophie tossed a Pokeball of her own, sending out her Dewott while pointing at the sludge. "Diver, help out with Water Pulse!" Diver formed a sphere of water between her hands, flingling it at the sludge. The sphere hit its mark, liquifying the sludge and causing it to travel down the floor in the direction of the Plasma grunts' feet. Upon stepping on the mix, the grunts cursed as they slipped up on the floor, along with a number of their Pokemon.

"Nice work, Sophie."

Standing in front of the cart holding the valuable artifact, Sophie turned to face the door. "Thanks Szac. Now come on, let's go!" Nathen, Skylar, and Hawes nodded, pushing it ahead, with Diver and Szac's Houndoom flanking their sides.

The figure muttered a few incoherent words under his breath, before forming a sphere of aura between his hands. "Incompetent buffoons..." With a snarl, he tossed the sphere at the backs of the people pushing the cart.

The Doctor hastily called out a command. "Oshawott, Water Gun!" Turning to gaze at the attack, the Sea Otter Pokemon released a forceful shot of water from his mouth which collided with the aura sphere, pushing it out of alignment with its intended targets and causing it to strike the floor instead. The Time Lord pointed at the door, currently defended by Amy's Herdier. The Loyal Dog Pokemon grunted as he slammed into a Trubbish with Tackle. "GO NOW!"

"What about you, Doctor?" asked Professor Juniper.

Amy pushed the professor forward, leaning in to speak. "The Doctor will be fine, he has three Pokemon."

Nathen's face creased with skepticism. "Against someone that can utilize aura? I doubt even those Pokemon will last for long."

Rory nodded. "Yes, but trust him, he's the Doctor."

The Doctor frowned as his Snivy smacked a Lillipup aside with Vine Whip. "DO I NEED TO REPEAT MYSELF? Snivy, Oshawott, go with them." The two Pokemon nodded, tasked with guarding the backs of the people leaving the room.

Amy sighed. "Trust the Doctor to be a hero. Now he'll only have one Pokemon left."

"Well, I hope he'll be alright. He seems to know what he's doing though." muttered Fennel.

Rory nodded. "If the Doctor tells us to leave, it's probably best that we do so."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Well said, Rory. Now make sure Pond doesn't come crawling back here to check on me, will you?"

Amy huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Before she could obtain a response from the Doctor, her husband pushed her out of the room.

The last to exit, Lenora turned to face the Doctor. "Good luck, Doctor." The only response she received from the Time Lord was a simple thumbs-up. Nodding, the gym leader turned tail and left the auditorium.

The figure removed two Pokeballs from his belt, tossing them into the air. One opened to reveal his Solosis, while the other played home to a small creature composed of two interlocking steel gray gears with six light gray teeth each. Each gear had a dark gray cicular center, with wide right eyes that have a white cornea and black pupil. Their left eyes were each a simple white letter "X". The gears had wide open mouths and round turquiose noses.

The Doctor immediately took notice of the two Pokemon "A Solosis and a Klink. I wonder..."

The figure pointed at the direction of the door, barking an order to the Plasma grunts. "AFTER THEM!" The two small Pokemon took off from the room in hot pursuit, followed a minute later by the grunts as they picked themselves up from the wet sludge. The figure moved to follow, but found the doors swing shut and lock themselves just as the last grunt exited.

Turning around, the figure found himself face-to-face with the Doctor and Tepig. The Doctor nodded, sonic screwdriver in hand. "I can't sense _him_ at all, so I know you're not him. Frankly, sneaking around with that hood up really adds mystery to you. Don't you feel hot under there?" The figure's only response was to generate an aura sphere. "No?" The figure did not move. "Oh, don't give me that blank look." The Doctor held out his arms, palms facing upwards. Two aura spheres quickly materialized in his hands. "The security cameras are all knocked out, _courtesy of Zekrom_, so no one will see us. Frankly, I haven't done this for a long time." Upon the departure of those words from the Doctor's mouth, the figure swung his arm, flinging his sphere at his opponent, forcing the Time Lord to crouch in order to avoid the attack. He deftly grabbed a third Pokeball and tossed it, sending out a small, white eel-like creature with a red cross-shaped mouth. It had dark oval eyes and a long fin membrane around its body, with a yellow stripe down its length. "A Tynamo? Curious choice. Tepig!" The Fire Pig Pokemon trotted over to face the EleFish Pokemon on his Trainer's instructions.

The figure cast a glance at the Doctor before ordering the first attack from his Pokemon. "Tynamo, Charge Beam!" No sooner had the words left his mouth did the figure leap onto a chair, creating and firing another aura sphere at the Time Lord, using the increased height to ensure the sphere went on a downward diagonal trajectory towards his opponent. An orb of cackling yellow electricity appeared in front of Tynamo's mouth, from which a beam shot out at Tepig.

The Doctor widened his eyes at the sudden attack, and fired off one of the spheres in his hands in response. It met the aura sphere from the figure head-on, both attacks mutually negating each other in an explosion. In his distraction, the Time Lord let his attention slip, only realizing that he briefly forgot about his Pokemon when he heard Tepig's shriek of pain upon being struck by the electric-type attack. "TEPIG! Use Flame Charge then." Following his command, the Doctor hurled his other sphere of aura from his hand at the figure.

The figure took a second to perceive the Fire Pig Pokemon envelopped in fire and charging at his Tynamo, and another to notice the Time Lord's sphere headed for his cranium. "Tynamo, dodge that attack!" He jumped down from the chair, ensuring that his opponent's attack went wide of its intended target. The EleFish Pokemon attempted to wiggle out of Tepig's way, but was unable to avoid the Fire Pig Pokemon, being struck with Flame Charge.

The Doctor gritted his teeth as he saw the figure stretch an arm out towards him, creating an aura sphere. "Ember." Taking advantage of the close quarters his attack left him in, Tepig turned to face his opponent and shot off a stream of fire bolts from his snout, pelting the EleFish Pokemon with them. Just as the Tynamo was reeling from being hit, the figure shot his sphere of aura at the Time Lord. The Doctor dived down to try and avoid it, but was hit on his left shoulder, the impact causing him to skid a meter down the floor. He pressed the palms of his hands down to slow his involuntary movement to some success, cringing as he put pressure on his injured left hand. He reached for his backpack and hastily removed his ivory-white bladed claymore, clutching the sword in his right hand, leaving the scabbard in the bag as he stood up. Although the figure's face was hidden behind a hood, the Doctor was sure that his expression now belied surprise. "Tepig, use Tackle."

"Tynamo, Spark!" As Tepig charged at his opponent, sparks of blue electricity cackled around the EleFish Pokemon's frame before envelopping it in a cloak. Tynamo surged forward to meet the Fire Pig Pokemon with its own attack, both of them slamming into each other. The two Pokemon remained locked in position for a few seconds, before sliding away in opposite directions, finding themselves with their backs to each other. The figure snarled as he put his hands together, materializing an aura sphere between them. "Charge Beam!"

The Doctor moved his left hand to join his right on the claymore's handle, wincing in pain as the bandaged hand curled its fingers around the sword just under its pommel. "Tackle!" Tepig turned around to get his opponent into his field of vision again, only to see it with a sphere of yellow electricity in front of its mouth. Wasting no time, the Fire Pig Pokemon ran at the EleFish Pokemon, intending to engage it in a full body tackle. No sooner did Tepig embark on the attack did the figure launch his aura sphere at the Time Lord, while his Pokemon shot a yellow beam at the Fire Pig Pokemon. Clutching his sword, the Doctor swung the weapon forward, causing the sphere to collide with the blade. The still hands of the Time Lord kept the claymore in position, holding the attack at bay until an upward twirl of the weapon sent the aura sphere into the auditorium's ceiling, blowing a hole into its surface. The Doctor spluttered at he was showered with white plaster powder, failing to notice his Tepig's Tackle stopped by a direct hit from Tynamo's Charge Beam. The electric-type attack knocked the Fire Pig Pokemon away from his intended path, causing him to shriek as he veered off into a row of chairs. "TEPIG!"

Sensing his opportunity, the figure called out to his Pokemon. "Time to go, Tynamo!" The EleFish Pokemon wiggled along the floor to its Trainer, quickly recalled into its Pokeball. Dashing forward to take advantage of the Doctor and Tepig's distraction, the figure charged and fired off a sphere of aura in his hands, using his forward momentum to increase the speed that the attack travelled to head toward its target. Eyes widened, the Time Lord lurched to his right to dodge the sphere, only to leave himself open to a kick from the figure's foot, directly on the bruise of his left shin. Reeling from the hit, the Doctor felt his legs give out from under him, as his knees hit the floor. The figure smacked the Time Lord on his bandaged left hand, causing him to grit his teeth in pain as his fingers relaxed their grip on the claymore, the weapon hitting the floor with a dull thud. He raised his hand, about to deal a blow to the Doctor. Before the figure could do so, Tepig shot a stream of fire bolts at his back in an Ember attack, forcing him to jump aside, leaving the fire-type attack to hit the floor in front of the downed Time Lord. Turning to face the closed double doors, the figure obliberated them with a quickly formed aura sphere, tearing out the auditorium and down the connecting corridor.

The Doctor flexed his fingers, slowly getting to his feet as he picked up his claymore with his right hand, briefly looking over its ivory-white blade as he let out a sigh. "I locked that door with the sonic and that guy simply blasts it open with an aura sphere…" Looking over at his Tepig, he noticed the Fire Pig Pokemon with a guilt-stricken expression and lowered head, apologetic at nearly hitting him with Ember. The Time Lord walked over to Tepig and crouched down, placing his left hand on the Pokemon's head with the utmost of care. "Don't worry, Tepig, look at me." Tepig raised his head slightly, locking eyes with his Trainer. "I'm not mad, you did what you had to do, and I thank you for it. I thank you for saving me." The Fire Pig Pokemon closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "You don't think so? Well, I do, and I think you should stop feeling so guilty. It's not your fault. Understand?" A slow nod from Tepig was all the Doctor received. "Good. Give it time, you'll see. Things will get better. Play your part, together we'll stand, and in the end, hand in hand, we will get there. Just give it time."

The Time Lord stood up, removing his hand from Tepig's head as he muttered to himself, a smile forming on his face. "I must say, I'm impressed. That's another disadvantage I have, and that guy took full advantage of it. Not bad, if I do say so myself." Walking over to his backpack, the Doctor stowed the claymore away in the bag, back in its scabbard. "Well, I better get going if I'm to catch up to that bloke. Come on, Tepig." The Fire Pig Pokemon nodded, trotting off after his Trainer as the Doctor dashed out of the auditorium.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Musuem Gallery, January 8, 2011, 9:35 p.m.)_

Amy narrowed her eyes as the group navigated their way through the Nacrene Museum's corridors, trying to find a safe exit for the cart they were tasked with guarding. Though simple in principle, success was hampered by the presence of several Plasma grunts, many of whom they opted to outrun instead of fight. The lack of other people in the building told the woman that they had been evacuated, the guest speakers especially by Miri. A select number of artifacts had been wrapped in plastic, and were being taken away by Plasma grunts, but the group had little opportunity to worry about those. Not when the museum's most valuable possession was lying on the cart they were pushing. Throughout their trek in the museum's corridors, a few members of the group had the embarrassing misfortune of slipping up on some parts of the floor, which had been recently waxed. Amy frowned as she recalled the fact that she was one of those people. If the Doctor was to be believed, that was part of the reason for the incapacitated guards lying bound and gagged in some locations. Amy gritted her teeth as they came to a stop in the middle of a largely empty corridor swamped by grunts, the exit blocked by several of them and their Pokemon. She turned to the people around her. "Clear away those grunts around us!"

Before anyone could respond, a bolt of yellow electricity struck Diver from behind, the surprise attack quickly bringing the Dewott to her knees. Sophie gasped. "DIVER!"

Szac's Houndoom turned to see what had happened, only to have several light blue circles strike him in the face. The Dark Pokemon being hit by the attack elicited a similar response from his Trainer as Sophie. "HOUNDOOM!" The figure's Solosis and Klink darted into the group's field of vision, their faces bearing taunting expressions.

Amy pulled out her Pokedex, holding it in front of the Solosis.

_Solosis, the Cell Pokemon. Because their bodies are enveloped in a special liquid, they can survive in any environment._

Rory held up his own Pokedex to obtain the other Pokemon's data.

_Klink, the Gear Pokemon. The two minigears that mesh together are predetermined. Each will rebound from other minigears without meshing._

Skylar tightened her grip on the cart's handle. "They could be trouble."

Nathen gazed at the two new arrivals. "They're probably some Plasma grunt's Pokemon. We'll just have to take care of them as well."

The boy perked up as he heard a voice shout from a nearby corridor, accompanied by running footsteps. "NATHEN!"

"Miri? MIRI!" Sure enough, the reporter came into view, running through the corridor entrance the group had taken seconds ago. Hovering in the space between Miri and the group, the figure's Pokemon frowned before quickly nodding to each other. The Klink came apart at the gears, each metal part soaring directly towards the reporter, intent to harm visible on its faces. "MIRI!" Miri shrieked as she ducked down into a crouch, causing Klink's first gear to whizz harmlessly overhead. Shot lower than its companion, the second gear soared towards the girl's frame, forcing her to roll to her left to avoid it.

Szac turned to his Houndoom, noticing that the Dark Pokemon had just stood up. "Houndoom, Hyper Beam!" Opening his mouth, Houndoom fired off a large orange beam of energy at the two gears, just as they reconnected into Klink again. Few signs of damage on its body evident, the Gear Pokemon spun around to face the source of the attack with irritation.

Nathen opened his mouth to speak to the reporter. "Are you alright?"

Miri stood up, trying to regain her composure, taking a deep breath to stable her nerves. "I-I t-think s-so."

"Well, that was a close one."

"I-It's a-an o-occupational h-hazard... J-Journalists g-get i-into them a-all the t-time..."

Nathen's face softened. "If you ask me, that's risky. Do be careful, won't you?"

Miri's face became tinted with red. "I-I'll try..."

"Did you get my parents and the other guest speakers out?"

"Yeah, I did. Then I came back in here to look for yo..." Miri cut herself off, briefly stumbling upon her words before regaining her focus. "I mean, the others. I mean, the others including you... Er..."

Nathen chuckled. "Don't worry, I know what you mean."

A voice spoke out from the end of the corridor the group entered a few seconds ago. "How touching. However, I think you'll find escape quite impossible, my dears. I don't care what the Doctor says, you're all trapped together. Trapped together like the hooks and loops of Velcro." The two Pokemon were soon joined by a number of Plasma grunts and accompanying Pokemon, Felix at the front.

Daniel chuckled nervously. "Well, this most certainly complicates matters..."

"I don't have time for you to chicken out now, Daniel! What happened to the man who used that Haxorus earlier?" snapped Amy.

"He's taking a vacation maybe..." muttered Daniel sheepishly.

"The Doctor's assistant may not know much about Pokemon, but she's certainly a firework." said Professor Juniper.

Fennel giggled in response. "Her husband seems like he's henpecked, in my opinion. Reminds me of Hawes and Lenora's relationship sometimes."

Hawes' eyes widened in shock. "HEY!"

Lenora chuckled. "They're just teasing you, dear. Though I can't help but reflect on their accuracy."

Hawes lowered his head dramatically. "Not you too!"

Amy huffed. "Cut the chit chat! You're the directors and you're making these comments at a time like this? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Nicolas crossed his arms. "Someone's eager. Skylar, just make sure no one gets close to the cart."

Skylar bit her lip. "I'll do my best. You're up, Blue." She tossed a Pokeball, sending out her Rotom, which proceeded to circle the cart.

Nicolas nodded. "I should pitch in as well. Let's go, Tank!" A flick of the wrist on his part sent out an Emboar from one of his Pokeballs.

Arms around her egg case, Amy turned to glare at Felix, motioning her Herdier to come to her side. "YOU! RETURN ME MY MUNNA!"

Fennel stared at Rory. "That's the guy you met at the Dreamyard?" The nurse simply nodded.

Felix rolled his eyes in boredom. "Oh, you're that pathetic girl from the Dreamyard who caught the Munna and ruined our plans at the Sunset Daycare Center. Looks like you have an egg now." The man turned to the other Plasma grunts. "Take care of the others." They complied, sending out their Pokemon as Felix cast his gaze at Amy. "My charming self regrets to inform you, but I _don't have_ your Munna. Ghetsis took it. Not my business as to why he wants it though."

Amy's glare intensified. "Why you..."

"Did I touch a nerve? Drop your pretense, Amy Pond. You must be filled with rage and agony now. Aren't you furious and upset at all? Go on, cry your heart out. Don't bottle it up. Seeing a girl like you cry, that's one of the things _I live for_."

"You'll be crying after I show you who's pathetic! Herdier!" Amy alternated her focus between the Doctor's Pokemon and the figure's for a few seconds before passing instructions to Snivy and Oshawott. "Snivy, Oshawott, I trust that you know what to do." To finish, Amy turned to her husband. "Rory, don't just stand around! Use your Audino and help them or something!

The Doctor's two Pokemon nodded. Snivy cast a brief glance at Oshawott before turning to face Solosis and Klink. "Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Vy. Snivy. Vy." _"You take the Klink. I'll handle that Solosis."_

Oshawott smirked. "Wott. Wott. Osha." _"Fine by me." _The Sea Otter Pokemon looked up at his designated opponent, noticing that yellow electricity was cackling around Klink's frame before the Gear Pokemon fired it off as a bolt. Eyes widened, Oshawott began to roll on the floor to put distance between himself and his opponent as the attack progressively lost steam. Standing up, Oshawott had time to perceive Solosis glow light blue and release several light blue rings from its body at Snivy, who managed to dodge the first few before being hit by those that followed. Refocusing, Oshawott fired a Water Gun at Klink, only for the Gear Pokemon to dodge the attack, causing it to hit the ceiling instead. Klink proceeded to separate into its component gears, each one speeding towards one of the Doctor's Pokemon. "Wott! Oshawott!" _"Snivy! Look out!"_

Noticing the gear speed towards her, Snivy whacked it aside with one of her vines, knocking it astray, causing it to lodge itself into a wall. She turned to see Oshawott hold up his scalchop as Klink's other gear struck it, preventing the metal piece from slicing his head down the middle. The Sea Otter Pokemon batted the appendage down, sending the gear smacking into the floor. Snivy breathed a sigh of relief. "Vy! Sni. Snivy. Vy." _"Phew! That was close."_

Oshawott turned to look at Solosis, noticing that Klink had rejoined its gears together. "Osha. Osha. Wott. Oshawott." _"Don't think this is over yet."_

Felix licked his lips, holding his Gallade's Pokeball, tossing it with a flourish. "Looks like the Doctor's Pokemon are as occupied as procreating Lopunny. Maybe this will be worth my while. Time to strike, Sirknight!" The Blade Pokemon rubbed his arm blades against each other, creating the noise of steel rubbing against steel.

Tearing its eyes away from the Doctor's Snivy, Solosis peered behind itself to notice that Szac's Houndoom and Diver were occupied with beating back a number of Trubbish and Purrloin. Letting out a sadistic chuckle, its body glowed yellow as several light blue circles surrounded it, firing them off at the Dark Pokemon's back. Its partner quickly catching on to its intentions, Klink shot a beam of yellow electricity at Diver.

Noticing both attacks quickly reaching their targets, Daniel tossed a Pokeball. "Blitzle, front and center!" The red-and-white sphere opened to reveal a small zebra-like creature, with a black body and white stripes. It had a spiked white mane with a lightning bolt-shaped extension at the front, white legs with back hooves, and a stubby white tail. It had oval eyes with blue irises and yellow scleras. "Protect those Pokemon!" The Electrified Pokemon dived into the space between the oncoming attacks and their intended targets. He winced as the light blue circles struck him, but was unable to stop the beam of electricity from zipping past him. Before the electric-type attack could strike Diver, it made a u-turn in its path, moving to hit Blitzle. The Electrified Pokemon stood tall, seemingly not feeling the attack's effects. "My Blitzle has the ability Lightningrod, which causes all single-target electric-type moves to strike him, like that ThunderShock. Not only does it grant immunity to said moves, it also increases Blitzle's Special Attack. How about a demonstration?" Daniel pointed at Solosis and Klink. "Shock Wave!" Blitzle reared his head back before rapidly moving it forward, firing off a light blue beam of electricity from the tip of his mane. Solosis shot a few light blue balls at the Electrified Pokemon in response, with both attacks passing each other and hitting their respective targets. Daniel nodded. "That must be Hidden Power, a move whose type and power depends on the user. Since it dealt damage to Blitzle, this particular one isn't electric-type." Solosis and Klink stared down the Blitzle in annoyance, before diving out of the way of a forceful shot of water and two vines headed for them. Glancing around, they reengaged the Doctor's Pokemon.

Professor Juniper placed her hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Good for you, Daniel. You protected those kids' Pokemon. You're coming out of your shell to help others, a stepping stone in the right direction, and a sign that you are on the road to reforming."

Daniel lowered his head slightly. "T-Thank y-you…"

Sophie nodded as her Dewott fended off an attack from a Patrat. "Diver and I both owe you one, Daniel." She turned to the boy next to her. "Szac?"

Szac turned to face Daniel, having ordered his Houndoom to knock aside a Sandile with Sludge Bomb. "Of course, you have my thanks, mister."

Miri took out her notepad. "Daniel, is it? You're reforming? Reforming from what?"

Rory eyed the reporter, his Audino using Sweet Kiss to confuse a Trubbish. "Miri? Is now such a good time to ask Daniel that question?" He scratched his head. "What am I saying? Nathen should be asking her that question…" Daniel turned his back to the conversation, focused on repelling a group of Purrloin with his Blitzle.

Nathen felt his cheeks heat up as he shook his head. "Hey! Leave me out of this!"

Miri smirked. "Don't you want to be involved in the news, Nathen?"

The boy tried to hide his red face. "Not when Rory is probing me like that!"

Rory shrugged as his Audino smacked a Watchog across the face with Pound. "Just trying to be helpful. But you can help by sending out a Pokemon or two…"

Taking Rory's hint, Nathen held up a Pokeball, which he proceeded to toss, sending out his Lucario. "Let's go, Lucario!"

Miri tossed a Pokeball of her own, which opened to reveal her Lopunny. "Come on out, Lopie!" She turned to Nathen. "Any ideas?"

"Hmmm… Just one. Lucario, Aura Sphere!"

"Ah, Lopie, Jump Kick!" The Aura Pokemon formed a cobalt-blue sphere of energy between his hands. As he fired it, Lopie swung her leg out and kicked it towards a group of Purrloin and Trubbish, adding power and thrust to the attack. The targeted Pokemon attempted to scatter, but were knocked into a messy heap when the attack struck them.

Nathen whistled. "Can you say 'wipeout'?" Miri giggled in response.

Amy held up her Pokedex to Daniel's Blitzle, switching it on.

_Blitzle, the Electrified Pokemon. __Its mane shines when it discharges electricity. They use their flashing manes to communicate with one another._

Putting away the device, Amy narrowed her eyes at the Gallade. "Herdier, use Work Up and Take Down!" A crimson aura surrounded the Loyal Dog Pokemon as his Attack and Special Attack stats increased.

Herdier charged forward at Sirknight to initiate Take Down, just as Felix responded with a command of his own. "Sirknight, Double Team." The Gallade complied, dashing in a circle around Herdier quickly enough to form a ring of shadowy afterimages around Amy and Herdier, increasing Sirknight's Evasion. The Loyal Dog Pokemon widened his eyes in surprise as he went through a duplicate, making it disappear.

Amy pointed at another duplicate. "Keep at it until you hit the real Gallade, Herdier!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon nodded and leapt at the indicated duplicate, only for it to disappear as he reached it.

Felix yawned. "You're starting to bore me. Sirknight, Focus Blast!" The duplicates disappeared as a light blue ball of energy began to form between the Gallade's clasped hands.

Amy hastily issued another command. "Herdier, Bite!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon bared his fangs and jumped up at Sirknight, aiming for his arm.

"That trick again? Repetitive as a broken record. Sirknight, launch your attack!" As Herdier neared the Gallade on his approach, the Blade Pokemon hurled the sphere at the Loyal Dog Pokemon, connecting successfully with his underside. Herdier shrieked in pain as he was knocked backwards onto his back.

"HERDIER!" Winded from the blow, the Loyal Dog Pokemon stumbled to his feet. "Tackle!" Commencing his attack, Herdier ran towards Sirknight.

"Not giving up? Sirknight, use Double Team, if you will." Several shadowy duplicates of the Gallade appeared in a circle around Herdier.

Amy squinted briefly before pointing at one of the duplicates. "_That_ trick again? The real Gallade is over there, Herdier!" Nodding, the Loyal Dog Pokemon shot off towards the duplicate Amy pointed out to him, smashing straight into the Blade Pokemon's chest and sending him skidding down the floor into a display case, knocking off its glass top and causing it to shatter on the floor.

Felix gritted his teeth. "What?"

Amy smirked. "One thing I learned when traveling with the Doctor is to keep your eyes peeled for every little detail of every little thing you see. Leave nothing to chance or the imagination and think about it. Always think. Soon, what you're looking for will become clear."

"I'm in no mood for lectures… Sirknight, Psycho Cut!" The Gallade's forearms glowed light blue as he attempted to slash Herdier.

"Herdier, get out of there!" Before the Blade Pokemon could strike Herdier with its forearms, the Loyal Dog Pokemon leapt aside, causing the Gallade to miss. "Use Work Up and Take Down again!" Bathed in a crimson aura, Herdier charged head-first into the Blade Pokemon's stomach, crumbling the base of the display case and knocking him into the glass cover of another. The cover fell onto Sirknight's head, breaking on contact.

Felix gritted his teeth as he dashed towards his Pokemon. "While you still can, Sirknight, Teleport!" He disappeared along with Sirknight, leaving Herdier to run back to Amy. An arm clutching her egg case, the woman knelt down to pat her Pokemon on the head.

Leaping away from a ThunderShock attack by Klink, Oshawott cast a glance at the display case he found himself at, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of the Black Prince's ebony-black bladed claymore. "Wott… Osha. Osha. Wott. Osha. Wott." _"That sword... The Doctor has one just like it."_

Snivy rolled her eyes, dodging several light blue circles from Solosis. "Vy. Vy. Sni. Sni. Sni. Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Sni. Sni. Snivy? Snivy. Vy. Sni. Vy. Vy." _"We know that. Its blade is white, remember? He used it to destroy that stone protrusion."_

Grabbing Snivy by the hand, Oshawott dashed around a corner to briefly lose their opponents. "Osha. Oshawott. Wott. Wott. Wott. Oshawott. Osha. Osha." _"Yes, but I saw robes almost like those in a closet of his TARDIS."_

"Sni. Sni…" _"So you think…"_

Oshawott nodded. "Osha. Wott. Osha. Wott. Wott. Wott. Osha." _"They're in his backpack, just like the white sword."_

"Sni. Sni. Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Vy. Vy. Vy. Sni?" _"Is that why he's locks the front pocket of his backpack and never lets anyone touch it?"_

"Wott." _"Possibly."_

Snivy's eyes widened as she noticed Klink get around the corner and rapidly approach Oshawott. "Vy!" _"Look out!"_ The Grass Snake Pokemon pushed the Sea Otter Pokemon aside, only to get caught up between the rotating gears of Klink. Taunting Oshawott, the Gear Pokemon levitated a meter above the floor, squeezing Snivy's small frame between its gears. The Sea Otter Pokemon fired his Water Gun attack at Klink, but it was intercepted by Solosis, who had darted between its teammate and the attack. Rolling in a downward path towards Oshawott, the Cell Pokemon barreled its circular body through the attack, cutting through the stream of water from the Sea Otter Pokemon's mouth before slamming into Oshawott, sending him skidding into a wall. At the same time, Klink relinquished its crushing hold on Snivy, dropping the Grass Snake Pokemon to the floor.

Oshawott began to rub his head. "Osha. Osha…" _"Ow…"_

Nicolas gritted his teeth, issuing a command to his Emboar. "Tank, use Hammer Arm!" The Mega Fire Pig Pokemon's arm glowed white before he slammed it into a Sandile, sending it flying. The man gazed at the Plasma grunts, overwhelmed by their numbers. "There's too many of them!"

Hawes sat down on the floor, resting his back against the cart. "This really is bad... We could actually lose the Light Stone to Team Plasma..."

Lenora grasped her husband by the shoulders, giving his frame a few light shakes. "Are you really going to throw in the towel?"

Hawes shook his head. "It's no use. Team Plasma is probably bringing several of our artifacts outside as we speak, to be carted off to who-knows-where for who-knows-what."

"Come on, pull yourself together! Those young Trainers are doing all they can to help us protect the core of the White Prince's dragon, and you're giving up hope? You're letting him and his legacy down!"

A voice spoke out from the entrance to the corridor. "His legacy is dated. And soon, all of you will be as well. I think I've had just about enough of this!" Before anyone could react, an aura sphere soared through the distance of the corridor, colliding with Blue, sending it into its Trainer's chest, knocking them both to the floor. The girl groaned from the impact as she rubbed her head.

Professor Juniper gasped. "SKYLAR!" She raised her head to see the figure walk towards the cart.

Rory stared at the figure. "Wait, if he's here, then where's the Doctor?"

Nicolas eyed his Emboar, before gesturing towards the figure. "Nevermind that! Tank, stop him with…"

Before Nicolas could finish, the figure cut him off. "Klink, Gear Grind!" Seizing its opportunity with the distraction of its opponents, the Gear Pokemon disengaged them and separated into its component gears, both of them whizzing towards the Mega Fire Pig Pokemon. The first gear struck the Emboar across the forehead, the second directly in his torso. Tank stumbled backwards for a second, falling over and knocking the glass cover off the stone sphere on the cart, prompting Hawes to make a move in a bid to stabilize it, replacing it with a sigh.

"TANK!"

At the sight of the downed Emboar, Diver and Houndoom turned to glare at the figure, only to have two aura spheres smash into their frames, knocking them away from the cart. Szac and Sophie gasped as they rushed to tend to their Pokemon. The figure turned his attention to the cases holding the Black Prince's possessions, smashing the claymore's case with a punch. He pulled out the sword, pointing at the other items in the display. "Take them, all of them!" Leaving the Pokemon to continue battling on their own, a few Plasma grunts rushed to the cases to fulfill the figure's instructions, smashing the glass covers and retrieving the items inside.

"Why is he stealing the Black Prince's possessions?" asked Rory.

"Despite their horrendous reputation, those items are priceless. It has been suggested that the Black Prince's claymore possesses special qualities unlike those of a regular sword of its type." replied Lenora.

Rory stared at the smallest display case being emptied. "They're even taking the Zekrom scale."

"Any physical remains from a Legendary Pokemon are highly valued, and thought to have special qualities as well."

Claymore in hand, the figure continued to advance on the cart, shoving aside Lenora and Rory. He grabbed Hawes by the collar and lifted the man off the ground, before flinging him aside. Nathen pointed at the figure. "Lucario, use Aura Sphere now!" The Aura Pokemon complied, creating a cobalt-blue sphere between its hands, firing it at the figure. The only response from the cloaked man was for him to lift the claymore he held slightly, allowing the attack to hit the blade. The figure swung the sword in the direction of Daniel's Blitzle, flinging the sphere into the Electrified Pokemon, sending him stumbling a few steps.

Daniel gasped. "BLITZLE!"

Nathen lowered his head in apology. "I'm sorry…"

Ignoring the exchange of words, the figure continued towards the cart, but his advance was blocked by a tall fourteen year old girl with long brown hair tied into a ponytail and green eyes. She wore a dark gray shirt with a blue tie and a gray skirt with a blue fringe. Black legwarmers and flats were worn on her feet. The figure tightened his grip on the claymore. "Out of my way, girl."

The girl shook her head, defiance crossing her face. "You'll have to get past me first! This is the Nacrene Museum's most valuable possession, and I won't stand for it to fall in Team Plasma's hands!"

The figure charged an aura sphere in his hand, preparing to fling it at the girl. "Very well." The girl's stubborn expression began to waver at the sight of the cobalt-blue ball of energy as the figure let out a chuckle, firing it at point-blank range.

Before the sphere could connect with its target, Amy set down her egg case and dove forward with her arms outstretched, pushing the girl to the floor. Arms curled around the girl's head, the Scottish woman used much of her frame to envelope the smaller female's body. Amy winced as she heard the aura sphere hit the cart's glass cover, blowing it to smithereens. She felt tiny impacts across her back as shards of glass fell upon it. Disregarding her, the figure reached over and picked up the stone sphere from its pillow.

The sound of running footsteps sent everyone turning towards the corridor's entrance, coming face-to-face with the Doctor and his Tepig. The Time Lord narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of the figure holding the sphere of stone and the Black Prince's claymore. The figure walked towards the Time Lord, bending in to whisper to the Doctor. "How does it feel, Doctor? How does it feel for you to once again let down Reshi-"

"OSHA!" Before he could finish, the figure found Oshawott charging towards his back, intent on protecting the Doctor. The figure spun around and swung the sword down on Oshawott, intending to cleave him in two, but was countered by the Sea Otter Pokemon detaching his scalchop and elongating a pillar of water from it. Oshawott swung his Razor Shell attack upwards, meeting the downward progress of the claymore's blade with a resounding clang. The figure let out a snarl, swiftly kicking Oshawott into the frame of the bed owned by the museum building's former owner. The Sea Otter Pokemon shrieked as he crashed into the bottom of the bed's frame.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "OSHAWOTT!" He strode forward to reach his Pokemon, but stepped on a waxed portion of floor, slipping on his rear end.

The frame cracked from the impact, and a simple steel box came tumbling out. The figure dashed towards the bed, picking up the box and turning towards the Plasma grunts. "We have what we need, let's go!" The figure recalled his Solosis and Klink into their Pokeballs as he fled the corridor, followed by the retreating grunts and their Pokemon.

Daniel sighed. "We lost the Light Stone…"

Skylar rubbed her head as she stood up. "We can still give chase! Where could they have gone?"

Fennel straightened her hair. "If I had to guess, I would say Pinwheel Forest, the forest beyond the limits of Nacrene City. From there, they could go to the Skyarrow Bridge and straight into Castelia City. The thick growth of the forest is an easy way to lose any pursuers."

Upon hearing those words, Rory recalled his Audino, dashing out of the corridor. "Wait! It was just a guess by Fennel, Rory!" shouted Professor Juniper. By the time she finished, the nurse had disappeared.

The Doctor chuckled as he stood up. "Ah, Rory. The man can be a bit rash, in my opinion. Still he seems to have gained some respect for the White Prince."

Amy stood up, helping the girl to her feet. "Doctor, Team Plasma just stole the Light Stone and you're laughing?"

The Time Lord continued to smile. "Oh, don't worry, Pond. I'm sure things will work themselves out nicely."

Lenora frowned, a serious look crossing her face. "That's fine and all but we still need to go after Team Plasma!" She turned to the majority of the room's inhabitants, who had all recalled their Pokemon. "If you all are willing, spread out and search Pinwheel Forest! If we're fast, we could still catch up to Team Plasma! I'll stay here with Hawes, Professor Juniper, and Fennel to work out the damage."

Szac turned to Sophie. "Coming?"

Sophie nodded with a shrug and a smile. "With you? Sure, why not?" Nicolas rolled his eyes and walked out of the corridor without a word. "Don't mind my brother, we get into these 'scuffles' once in a while."

"Sounds like a typical sibling relationship to me, even if I don't have any."

Sophie chuckled as they walked away. "I like you…"

Skylar rubbed her head. "Maybe I'll stay here. Blue being hit by that figure's attack left me with a splitting headache. Must be the impact."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, that can hurt. A lot, to be honest. I can attest to it, I was hit on the head…"

Amy crossed her arms. "Alright already! We get the point, Doctor!"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Anyway, going together, Nathen, Miri?" The two teens faced each other for a second before turning away, both sporting red on their faces.

"D-Do y-you w-want that, M-Miri?" asked Nathen, still not facing the reporter.

Miri nodded quickly. "S-Sure, i-if y-you're up f-for i-it…"

"W-We s-should probably g-go t-then…"

"R-Right." The two teens hastily left the corridor.

Daniel crossed his arms. "I think I'll stay here and help out with the cleanup. Plus, two of my Pokemon are injured. I need to heal them quickly."

The Doctor nodded. "Alright then. Do what you have to." He stared at the girl next to Amy. "By the way, Pond, who's that?"

The girl cleared her throat. "I-I'm K-Katrina O-O'Rear, s-sir."

"Steady your nerves, Katrina. Where did you come from?"

Katrina took a deep breath in a bid to stop her stuttering. "I was here for the launch event, and left when the auditorium was evacuated, but I was caught up somewhere and couldn't get out in time, so I just went into some corridor and hid behind a display case, avoiding any Plasma grunts I saw. Then you all showed up with that cart. I overheard Hawes mention that it held the Light Stone. When that man in the cloak came here, I decided to step in. I know that was a stupid thing to do, and he looked very scary, but I couldn't let him take that artifact…" She turned to Amy, wrapping her arms around the woman in a hug. "Thank you for saving me even though you put yourself in harm's way. If not for you, I would have been a goner."

Amy returned the embrace. "You're welcome. Don't do that again. Your life's more precious than a sphere of stone."

"I-I'll t-try."

"I'm Amy, by the way."

The Doctor cut in. "Amy? That name's boring. How about Amelia?"

Amy huffed, giving the Time Lord a dirty look. "Shut up, Doctor."

"Hey, in my defense, Amelia sounds a lot better."

"I grew up."

The Time Lord chuckled. "No, you didn't. Hiding behind that excuse again?"

Amy disregarded the Doctor, lowering her head to whisper to Katrina. "We have something in common. I've done lots of stupid things myself. Things so stupid I thought that they would actually work. Sometimes they did, and sometimes, well, they didn't. The Doctor's guilty of it all the time."

Arms still wrapped around Amy, Katrina raised her head to look into the woman's eyes. "Really? I have all these plans sometimes. They sound ridiculous in fact, that's what people tell me."

"The Doctor comes up with them too, and that's what I tell him sometimes. But when there's something he can't do, I find a way to solve it, and put him in his place. Maybe knock him off the high horse he likes to ride so often."

The Doctor huffed. "Oi! I heard that!"

Katrina ignored the Time Lord, muttering to Amy. "Talking to you is like talking to my sister, Rue…"

Amy smiled. "I'm glad you think that way."

"For the record, I think Amelia does sound like a better name. It has a nice ring to it. My family's kinda traditional, you know, and I grew up on a farm."

Amy raised an eyebrow at Katrina's comment. "Hmmm... You think so too, huh?"

Daniel cleared his throat. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you want to catch Team Plasma, I suggest you hurry up."

Amy nodded, staring at the Doctor. "Rory's out there."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, we really should catch up to your husband as well."

Katrina raised an eyebrow. "Wait, the Doctor _isn't_ your husband, Amy?"

The Time Lord whistled. "Oh, Rory's _not_ going to be pleased when he hears that…"

"No, the Doctor's not my husband. We should probably go then…" muttered Amy.

Katrina reluctantly let go of the woman. "R-Right."

The Doctor walked to the corridor's exit, followed by Katrina and Amy, who had picked up her egg case. "Good luck, all of you." said Professor Juniper, as they walked away.

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Clearing, January 8, 2011, 10:10 p.m.)_

At a clearing near the entrance of Pinwheel Forest, an elderly man gazed at several Plasma grunts in the process of loading wooden crates onto a moving truck. He had a white bushy moustache and short beard, as well as wide ears and eyes shut in a squint. He wore black robes with gold trim and a black conical hat. The man's robes sported a Team Plasma logo under the neck. He turned to a male grunt. "What is the progress of our situation?"

"Sage Gorm, we are almost done with packing the stolen artifacts into the truck. We still have to secure the Dragonite's skull and then load it on, along with a few other small items." replied the grunt.

"Carry on then." Gorm looked up at the dark cloud in the sky, noticing bolts of lightning from it striking the relative position of the Nacrene Museum. "Zekrom still persists in attacking the museum. Excellent." He turned to Adam, occupied with supervising his Feraligatr loading a wooden crate onto the truck. "You know what the plan is, don't you?"

Adam, disguised in a Team Plasma uniform with a blank theatre-esque silver mask to conceal his face, nodded. "Yes, sir. I ride in the truck for a short distance, and change my clothes back to that of a lab assistant's inside. Then you drop me off near the outside of the museum, and I'll blend in with the group of people who were evacuated. Due to the confusion surrounding Zekrom's cloud still in the sky near the building, people won't pay much attention to each other, let alone me. I'll just tell the police that I was there with the evacuees all along when they question me."

"At least this job will reduce the chances of anyone in the museum from recognizing you. Continue."

"From what I heard, Felix managed to isolate those interfering annoyances in one of the corridors, until he had to flee. We've loaded the Genesect fossil in the truck, and just secured the Light Stone."

Gorm straightened his hat. "Good. That's good. It buys us some time. The grunts stationed in the forest should alert us if there's any trouble."

Gorm and Adam turned their heads as they heard a voice in the distance. "Audino, Sweet Kiss! Now use Pound!"

"Someone's here!" muttered Adam.

Gorm sighed. "Which means that there could be more of them."

A grunt ran through the forest growth, stopping in front of Gorm as he panted. "Sage Gorm, there's a man making his way towards us with an Audino… He just beat me."

Before the grunt could elaborate further, Rory emerged, stepping into the clearing, accompanied by his Audino. "So that's where you're going to make your getaway! Return the artifacts you stole!"

Gorm chuckled. "To think we were actually found here… How interesting… Adam, take care of him."

Adam removed a Pokeball from his belt. "Very well, sir." He tossed the red-and-white sphere, sending out a Seviper. "Seviper, finish him!"

Rory gritted his teeth. "Audino, Pound!"

"Foolish mistake. Seviper, Poison Tail!" As Audino dashed towards Seviper with her raised right arm glowing white, the end of the Fang Snake Pokemon's tail glowed purple, as he reared it back and struck the Hearing Pokemon across her stomach.

"AUDINO!"

Behind his mask, Adam smirked. "Looks like I caught you off-guard. Now Seviper, Night Slash." The Fang Snake Pokemon's tail glowed crimson as he swung it towards Rory's Audino.

Rory gritted his teeth. "Come on, Audino! Pound!" As Seviper's tail approached her, Audino's arm glowed white as she thrust it forward to meet the Fang Snake Pokemon's attack, stopping it in its tracks.

"Seviper, Screech!" The Fang Snake Pokemon opened his mouth, releasing a high-pitched, earsplitting screech that distorted the air with its sound waves. Rory squeezed his eyes shut as he moved to cup his ears, attempting to shield them from damage. Audino winced as her Defense stat was lowered, her grasp on Seviper's tail wavering. "Poison Fang!" His fangs taking on a purple sheen, the Fang Snake Pokemon reared his head and bit into Audino's shoulder, forcing her to relinquish her grip on his tail.

"Pound!" Instead of executing the move she was instructed to, Audino swung her arm back and slapped Seviper across the face, before repeating it again with another slap. Three more slaps followed, forcing the Fang Snake Pokemon to release her shoulder. Rory bit his lip. _"That must be a new move…"_ He held up his Pokedex, receiving information on it. _"DoubleSlap… Interesting…" _"Audino, use DoubleSlap again!" The Hearing Pokemon complied, slapping Seviper repeatedly across the face while he was still reeling from the previous assault on his visage.

Adam sighed. "Seviper, Poison Tail!" Tail glowing purple, the Fang Snake Pokemon swiped it at the Hearing Pokemon.

"Audino, dodge it!" The Hearing Pokemon narrowed her eyes as she watched the tail approach, jumping over it as the appendage dredged across the ground. "Pound!" An arm glowing white, Audino slammed it into the back of the Fang Snake Pokemon's head.

"Night Slash, Seviper!" Seviper smirked, his tail glowing with a crimson hue. He raised it, sweeping it forward to slam into Audino's back. The Hearing Pokemon shrieked in pain as she fell onto her front. "Again, Seviper!"

Rory's face belied urgency. "AUDINO! DODGE IT!" The Hearing Pokemon rolled out of the way as the Fang Snake Pokemon poised his tail to strike again, slamming into the ground on the location Audino once occupied.

"Keep on using Night Slash, Seviper!" The Fang Snake Pokemon nodded and swiped his tail at Audino, only for her to roll aside.

"Audino, Pound!" Her arm glowing white, Audino brought it up and smacked it against Seviper's tail as he brought it down on her frame, stopping the appendage in its tracks. "Now use Sweet Kiss!" Holding Seviper's tail in place, Audino blew him a kiss, sending several pink hearts from her mouth at her opponent. The hearts made contact, confusing the Fang Snake Pokemon as his eyes turned to stars. Seviper backed away from Audino, moving around in a daze. "DoubleSlap!" Getting on her feet, the Hearing Pokemon moved to slap the Fang Snake Pokemon a few times.

Gorm narrowed his eyes as he heard the nearby foliage rustle, signaling the arrival of more people. "We don't have time for this. End it now!" Holding a large blue rock in his hands, a grunt charged at Rory. Before the nurse could react, the grunt smashed the heavy rock onto his forehead. As Rory fell, he vaguely registered his right leg kicking upwards, smacking into the Plasma grunt's hand and dislodging the item the man held in his grasp. The nurse's head hit the ground with a dull thud, his sense of awareness rapidly departing him. Darkness swarmed his vision as he faintly heard three voices shout his name.

* * *

Author's notes: Boy, that was a tough chapter to write, and quite long too. I may rewrite parts of it at a later date. Many apologies if it's late, but my work is stacking up. It was difficult at time to handle shifting the action around between different characters, but I tried my best. I hope I did well in writing all those OCs as well. This chapter has no glossary, which is probably just as well, since I might burn myself out if it continues any longer. I'm not sure when I will put up the next chapter, but I hope it's soon.

I find it unusual, but I'm still looking for OCs. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers and Nicolas Summers belong to yuukifan001.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**


	26. The Bond of Memories

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"If I am to care for people in hospital, I really must know every aspect of their treatment and to understand their suffering." _– Princess Diana

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 26: The Bond of Memories**

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Clearing, January 8, 2011, 10:10 p.m.)_

Amy shrieked as she witnessed her husband crumple to the ground after being struck across the forehead by a Plasma grunt, rushing forward to catch his body in her arms. "RORY!" Noticing that Amy was being brought to her knees by Rory's weight, Katrina dashed forward to assist her, as the Doctor cast a cool, emotionless gaze at the Plasma grunts.

Gorm closed his eyes, letting out a mirthless chuckle. "Ah, company... Time to go."

Behind his mask, Adam frowned as he saw Rory's Audino abandon her battle with his Seviper to tend to her Trainer. "But sir, what about the Dragonite skull?"

Gorm shook his head, noting the wooden crate next to the moving truck. "It's not important. We can afford to abandon it. According to our research, it had nothing to do with the Legendary Pokemon Team Plasma is searching for. It is completely unrelated. It would do well for us to keep the Light Stone on other hand, since it contains that Legendary Pokemon's opposite." He turned his attention to the unconscious Rory, before switching his gaze to stare at the Time Lord. "However, do not think we will allow anyone to disrupt our plans and get away with it. We will fix it so you never interfere with us again."

Briefly casting a glance at Amy and Katrina cradling Rory's frame, the Doctor's facial expression remained stoic. "Who are you?"

"I am Gorm, one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. Ghetsis, another of the Seven Sages, will liberate Pokemon with words alone! The remainder of the Seven Sages have ordered their compatriots to take Pokemon with full force! But this is only a minor and necessary evil. Doctor, know your enemies, know yourself, and know you need not fear the result of a hundred battles..."

The Time Lord chuckled slightly, an impressed look upon his visage. "A line from Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'. How eloquent."

"You think so? Good. Our master often recites it." Gorm turned his back to the Doctor, tilting his head backwards to give the Time Lord a warning glance. "This time, we shall retreat quietly. To secure the liberation of Pokemon, we will steal from Trainers! We know who you really are, Doctor, and what you turly mean to Unova, but we will not tolerate any further obstruction from you. In any case, we will settle this someday. I hope you are looking forward to that time as much as I... Let's go!" Without another word, the Plasma grunts recalled their Pokemon and entered the back of their truck, quickly driving away.

The Doctor's face wrinkled slightly as he recalled Gorm's words. _"They know who I really am to the people of Unova? Impossible!"_ He cupped his chin as another thought occured to him, uncertainty tainting his face. _"Or is it?" _He cast a glance at the sky, noticing the black hurricane eye-shaped cloud still hovering over the museum. _"Looks like Zekrom's still attacking the building..." _Before the Time Lord had any further opportunity to contemplate its presence, the cloud dispersed, the sky in the immediate area clearing up. _"Or not, I guess. Strange that Zekrom left as soon as Team Plasma did..."_

Amy gritted her teeth as she suddenly remembered the Doctor's presence, her voice breaking his train of thought. "Doctor? What are you standing around here for? Call an ambulance for Rory!" The Time Lord sighed as he began to enter a number into his Xtransceiver.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, January 9, 2011, 9 a.m.)_

Katrina sighed as her feet took slow, tentative steps down the corridor of a hospital, towards the door of a ward whose room number she was given by a nurse. Blinking slightly, she raised her hand to the door, rapping on it with her knuckles. A call of acknowledgement from the other side was her signal to enter. Pushing the door open, she strode in, immediately noting the room's small size. Her attention was brought to the room's sole bed, on which Rory laid unconscious, bandages wrapped around his forehead. Seated on a chair next to him was Amy, slightly bags under her eyes from obvious sleep deprivation. The girl placed her hand on the woman's shoulder as a gesture of comfort. "Has Rory woken up yet, Amy?"

Amy let out a short sigh as she turned to lock eyes with Katrina. "No Katrina, he hasn't."

Sympathy crossed the girl's face. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

The woman simply nodded at the vacant chair next to her. "Well, take a seat."

Katrina complied, another question on the tip of her tounge. "Do you know what's up with him then?"

"I haven't been told anything by the doctors yet."

As those words left Amy's mouth, the door opened, and in walked a man in a white medical coat, clipboard in hand. "Which one of you is Amy Pond?"

"I am." replied Amy. "How's my husband..." The woman bit her lip slightly before muttering the next word, briefly considering the fact that she commonly used it to refer to her imaginary friend. "..., doctor?"

"It would appear that he suffered a mild concussion from the blunt trauma inflicted on him."

"A concussion?"

"Yes."

"How long would it take for him to recover?"

"I would suggest giving him about a week or two. Make sure he gets lots of rest and have him try and avoid any additional head trauma. And get him to take the prescribed medicine. His recovery might not always be smooth, so keep that in mind. He might even feel that he's slipping backwards, which is normal. It might be hard for him to remember things for a while, so writing them down helps. Just know that some symptoms may persist for days or weeks."

Amy nodded slowly. "Alright, thank you."

"If you want, we can keep him here for observation for a while, see if we can possibly ease his recovery."

"I think that arrangement will work out, doctor."

As soon as the health professional exited the room, a voice spoke out from its entrance, prompting Amy and Katrina to perk up. "A concussion? A concussion? Sigh. Rory, Rory, Rory. Always getting sent to the hospital as a patient **(1)**! For God's sake, he's a nurse!"

Amy turned to find the source of the voice. "Doctor! You're one to talk, considering how many times_ you_ get knocked out."

The Doctor walked in, causing the room's conscious occupants to note that he had a large canvas bag slung across his shoulder, which he proceeded to set down on the floor with a start. He tapped the top of his head with a finger. "My cranium just happens to be more durable, that's all. Don't you two worry, he'll be fine. Come to think about it, he always winds up fine, one way or another **(2)**." He cast a glance at the nightstand next to the nurse's bed, a number of get well cards propped up on its surface, next to Amy's egg case. "But blimey, he's popular." He turned to stare at Amy with jealousy. "You called the man who just left the room 'doctor'. Well let me tell you, Pond. He may be a doctor. But I'm _the_ Doctor. The definite article, you might say** (3)**."

Amy huffed. "Now you want a monopoly on the term too, eh Doctor?"

"Well, give me some credit. I'll have you know that I made it famous, well-known, remembered throughout time and space! Creatures of all shapes and sizes from all over the universe _run_ when they hear my name, Pond **(4)**."

Katrina gave the Doctor a look of skepticism. "Why would anyone run from you, Doctor? You look as harmful as a plush Teddiursa."

The Time Lord huffed, looking very offended. "Oi! I may look like that, but at least have some respect for the name!"

Amy cleared her throat, wanting to avoid the outbreak of a possible argument. "Anyway, where have you been?"

The Doctor straightened his bow tie. "Giving statements to the police. Apparently, they are at a lost as to why Team Plasma would attack a museum to steal artifacts, apart from greed. After all, two of them are remains of Legendary Pokemon."

"Did they investigate you getting poisoned by the champagne?"

"Yes, they did. They think it was tampered with."

Amy nodded. "Well, that makes sense. How does cyanide wind up in champagne by accident?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Luckily I used the sonic to open the bottle, so the cork was intact. The police noticed a small pinprick sized hole down its length. Of course, if I had opened the bottle with a corkscrew, that piece of evidence would have been destroyed, so they're still investigating."

Katrina crossed her arms. "Wait, the Doctor was poisoned with cyanide? How did he survive?"

"It's a long story." muttered Amy, turning to the Time Lord. "How about Zekrom apperaing while Team Plasma was attacking and then disappearing afterwards?"

The Doctor shrugged. "That's still something they're still looking into, and as a result of that, the police is now theorizing a possible connection between Team Plasma and Zekrom..." Before the Time Lord could continue, a knock on the door alerted him to some visitors. "It's open." The Doctor was soon greeted by the sight of Nathen and Miri entering the ward, as he raised his head in acknowledgement.

The reporter was the first to speak. "Sorry to hear about Rory, how is he?"

"He received a concussion from being struck on the head." replied Katrina.

"That sounds serious."

"The doctor said it was a mild one and that Rory should take at least a week to recover."

Nathen shrugged. "He's a medical doctor? I thought that was just a nickname or something."

The Doctor cleared his throat in irritation, but Miri disregarded it. "He told me that he was a doctor of 'a great many things'."

"But still, in the medical field? Anyway, he doesn't work here."

Katrina chuckled. "I meant the doctor that works here in the hospital."

The Time Lord pouted. "Even if I don't work here, I could have given a more detailed and accurate assessment of Rory's condition than that guy!"

"Uh, okay then..." muttered Katrina.

Nathen cleared his throat. "By the way, we just wanted to say goodbye before we head off."

"You're leaving?" asked Amy.

Nathen nodded. "Well, yeah. We just came to Nacrene City because of the launch event at the museum here, and to meet my parents." Miri cleared her throat. "And so Miri can interview them to write an article.

The reporter turned to the boy with a smirk. "By the way, what _did_ your parents say about us?"

Nathen began to blush. "Y-You w-were t-there too! D-Don't t-tell me y-you f-forgot!"

Miri cupped her chin. "Maybe my memory isn't as clear as it used to be. A lot of details to remember for articles, you know."

"C-Can t-this w-wait?"

"I don't think so."

Nathen closed his eyes, attempting to gain some control over the situation. "D-Do you want that s-sketch of Z-Zekrom for your a-article or n-not?"

Miri chuckled. "You know, there are plenty of sources for pictures of Zekrom. Me using your sketch would just give your work greater exposure. You do want that, don't you?"

The boy sighed, throwing his arms into the air. "A-Alright, a-alright! T-They s-said that w-we make a-a c-cute c-couple!"

"Don't you think so?"

"N-No! H-Happy n-now?"

Miri smirked. "Satisfied."

"Even Nathen's parents can see it..." muttered the Doctor.

"That was ruthless." muttered Amy.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that's journalism for you."

Katrina sighed. "Still, Miri didn't have to make Nathen do that. It's just mean."

Amy shook her head slightly. "Katrina, there are lots of things in this world a farm girl like you has to grasp. I suppose that's why we go out on journeys. Believe me, I'm a village girl myself. Didn't really venture out of town until the Doctor recently brought me along. I learned a lot since then. Things that you simply can't learn by staying at home."

"How profound."

"Well, I guess we should be off. Hope Rory makes a full recovery." said Nathen. "Oh, and Doctor? Good luck with your rematch against Lenora. I've battled her and won my badge, but boy, she's tough. If you're having trouble, train for a while at the Battle Club. I believe Don George has something that can help."

"I'll keep that in mind, Nathen. Thank you." replied the Time Lord. The room's conscious occupants nodded as the boy left with Miri. Closing the door, the Doctor crossed his arms. "Anyway, now that's out of the way, the others are at the museum, helping to clean up the mess caused by Team Plasma."

"Even Szac?" asked Amy.

"Even Szac. Apparently, he's getting along quite well with Sophie." replied the Doctor. "Skylar received some bruises from what happened yesterday. Apparently, having her Rotom knocked into her by an aura sphere did quite the number on her. Nothing serious, though. Spencer was found with the people huddled outside when the museum was evacuated. As we thought, he left when the evacuations started and was with the evacuees the whole time afterwards. Not that anyone's _actually_ keeping track of him... Anyway, I believe Szac, Skylar, and Sophie plan on accompanying us to Castelia City, once I win the Basic Badge from Lenora." He turned to Katrina. "You're coming too, aren't you, Katrina?"

The girl gazed at Amy. "I guess so, if Amy's fine with it."

The woman nodded slowly, a sense of detachment evident in her voice. "That would be fine..."

The Time Lord turned to face the woman. "Trust me, Pond. Rory will be alright."

Amy sighed. "You already said that, Doctor. And I do trust you."

The Doctor took a seat next to Amy. "Amy. You were ostracized by most of the kids in Leadworth for beliving in me. Trusting me. Putting your complete and utter faith in me. And for that, you were ostracized by all the kids. All of them. Save for Rory. You felt alone, lonely, ignored. But not when he was by your side. Because of that, he won you over, didn't he?"

Amy stroked Rory's hand, eyes set on the unconscious man's face. "Yeah."

"But even though you had him, you still felt unfulfilled deep down inside. You sought the adventure I had promised you when we first met. But for twelve years, I was a distant, distant, distant man to you. However, just remember, Pond. 天大地大，只要有医生在，什么都不怕."

Amy blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot that you don't understand Chinese. It's a nice motivational phrase given to me by someone I met recently. It might not be translated as smoothly into English, but I'll try." The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Here and there, with the Doctor near, there's nothing to fear."

Amy wrapped her arms around the Doctor in a hug. "I thought you spoke it quite well."

"Everyone else in Leadworth thought I was a figment of your imagination. But no, not you. Real or not, you kept me near. Then I came back to fetch you, and from then on,_ I_ kept you near. But from the beginning, I was your imaginary friend."

Amy closed her eyes, nodding slowly in agreement. "My 'Raggedy Doctor'."

"I think I'm intruding on something here..." muttered Katrina.

The Doctor continued to talk. "Are you going to be okay, Pond?"

"I hope so, Doctor."

"Oh, I think you'll do fine. You've been doing fine so far for as long as you travelled with me."

Before Amy could answer, Katrina waved to get her attention. "Doctor, Amy! Rory's waking up!"

The Time Lord pushed Katrina toward the door. "Call a nurse!" Nodding, the girl left the room.

Rory stirred, eyes blinking rapidly as he began to take in his surroundings, prompting his wife to seize one of his hands. "Thank goodness you're alright, Rory!"

The nurse opened his mouth to speak, his voice slurred slightly from his condition. "A-Amy? D-Doctor? W-Where a-am I-I?"

"Y-You're in the hospital. You were here since yesterday night. The nurse will be here in a minute, just do what she says for now." Katrina soon returned with a white-clad woman, who simply instructed Rory to get some rest after administering him a few pills.

After the nurse left, Rory straightened his frame. "S-So w-what h-happened?"

Amy sighed. "Team Plasma succeeded in robbing the Nacrene Museum, and you got a concussion because of it."

Rory cleared his throat. "I-I d-did?"

"Yes! Just try and remember, Rory."

The nurse's face creased with frustration. "I-I d-don't-t..." He bit his tounge as his hands curled themselves around his bandaged forehead, a whimper of pain escaping his lips.

The Doctor grabbed Amy by the shoulder. "Don't make him think too hard, Pond! You might worsen his condition!"

Desperation appeared on the woman's face. "Then how will he get back his memory of that time?"

"It may come back slowly, in short bursts at times, or possibly not at all. Just be patient. You forgot he existed once, now you have to remember all this for him! Do you understand me?"

Katrina blinked, slightly lost at part of the Time Lord's comment, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes Amy, calm down!" She gazed at the nurse, discomfort etched on his face as he struggled to comprehend his situation. "Maybe we should let Rory rest for a while."

The Doctor nodded. "An excellent idea, Katrina." He cast a glance at his feet. "You two go on ahead, I have to tie my laces." Amy sighed, before allowing Katrina to lead her out of the room by the hand. Left alone in the ward with Rory, the Time Lord rubbed his hands together. "Relax, Rory, and close your eyes."

Rory leaned back on his bed. "O-Okay..." The Doctor gently placed a hand on the nurse's forehead, closing his own eyes to focus. The Time Lord's hand briefly glowed a faint cobalt-blue for a second, the light insufficient to penetrate Rory's closed eyelids.

The Doctor removed his hand. "Open your eyes."

Rory scratched his head, closing his eyes. "I-I r-remember s-something. I-I t-think."

The Doctor cupped his chin as he dwelved into his thoughts. _"Rory's memory of what happened yesterday isn't gone, just subdued. Good thing I managed to bring it to the surface so he can go over it again _**(5)**_. Using a small amount of aura should accelerate his recovery slightly, but not by so much that the hospital staff get suspicious." _He turned to look at the nurse. "Stay in bed. I'll get Amy and Katrina." Leaving the room, he soon returned with his companions in tow.

Amy held a tray of food, which she proceeded to set on her husband's lap as she questioned the Time Lord. "I thought Rory could use some breakfast before he rests. He's remembering now? Did you have something to do with it?"

"Maybe." replied the Doctor.

"I-I r-r-remember a P-Plasma grunt rushing at m-me with a s-stone. M-Must b-be how I l-landed i-in here. T-Team Plasma g-got away, d-didn't t-they?" asked Rory.

The Doctor nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. However, we managed to avoid the theft of that Dragonite skull, which brings me to that bag I brought in here. Pass it to me, Katrina."

The girl handed the Time Lord the bag, grunting at its weight. "It's heavy. What's inside?"

"I was getting to that. The museum was apologetic for the injuries you sustained, Rory, so they decided to give you a little something." The Doctor reached into the bag, retrieving a large blue rock shaped like a tortoise shell, slightly splattered with dried blood. "Recognize this? It's a Cover Fossil. The one that the museum had on display was the item used to knock you out and give you that nasty concussion. The police have retained that one for evidence, though it's fairly obvious who assaulted you and what happened. They are collecting fingerprints and blood samples from the fossil's surface. Anyway, the museum has plenty of these fossils and recently dug up a few at the Relic Castle site, so giving you this one is no big loss to them."

The Doctor handed the fossil to Amy, who proceeded to hold it in her hands. "Blimey, it's quite heavy. Wait, can't you revive a Pokemon from this fossil?"

The Time Lord beamed. "Ah, good to know that you remembered what Daniel told you, Pond. This Cover Fossil can be used to revive a Tirtouga. Unfortunately, the equipment the museum has for such a task was damaged by Team Plasma. It'll take a while to repair, but the museum will inform me when that's done. They've offered to hold onto the Cover Fossil for safekeeping until it's revived, since it is heavy and impractical to bring around. Besides, fossils are common targets for thieves, given their general rarity and value." He continued to dig his hand into the bag, also removing a small gray rock with various indentations along its surface. "And here's something for you, Amy. Lenora wants you to have it. It's a Moon Stone."

Amy set down the Cover Fossil and accepted the Moon Stone. "A what?"

"A Moon Stone. They are a number of Pokemon around who won't evolve unless you use special stones on them, termed evolutionary stones. The Pokemon evolves and the stone is used up in the process. That one in particular can evolve a Munna. Lenora is apologetic that you lost yours to Team Plasma and hopes that you can find it soon. Once you do, you can use that stone on it when you want to evolve it."

Katrina gasped. "Team Plasma stole your Munna, Amy? That's terrible! I'm sorry to hear that."

Amy bit her lip and sighed. "It's fine. I'll find it again soon."

The Doctor cupped his chin. "Still a bit doubtful, Pond? Trust me."

The woman nodded slowly. "It's hard to sometimes, but I-I'll try."

Rory cleared his throat to be heard. "U-Um... B-But w-what _was_ s-stolen?"

The Time Lord shrugged nonchalently. "Oh, among other things, a steel box from under the bed of the building's former owner, which no one apparently knew was there to begin with, the Black Prince's relics, the Genesect fossil, and the Light Stone. Did I say Light Stone? Hmmm... Yes I did. _The_ Light Stone."

"W-Wait... T-The L-Light S-Stone-e... The Light Stone..." "S-So-o, w-we f-failed-d?"

The Doctor chuckled, swiping a cup of coffee from Rory's breakfast tray. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about the museum, and I _especially_ wouldn't worry about the Light Stone they stole."

"Doctor, the Light Stone is the sealed core of the White Prince's dragon, and now Team Plasma has it. Why won't you be worried at all?" asked Amy.

"You mean Reshi-"

Before Katrina could finish, the Doctor did a spit-take, spewing a mouthful of coffee on the floor. "Blimey! Hospital food is awful! Who in the name of Gallifrey makes this stuff?"

Rory narrowed his eyes. "H-Hey!"

The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Oh yeah, almost forgot, people like you... In any case, I'll be off to the Battle Club tomorrow. You, my friend, will be confined here for at least a week, so try not to die of boredom. I think I'm starting to feel it, having to watch time go by at a _natural pace_."

"Doctor, sometimes I think you take the TARDIS for granted." muttered Amy, her expression quickly shifting to a smug smirk. "Guess you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, eh?"

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Battle Club, January 10, 2011, 11 a.m.)_

The Doctor whistled a tune as he strode into Nacrene City's Battle Club, shifting his head left and right as he took in the sights of the entrance foyer, similar to the facility in Accumula Town. "Now where's that Don George?"

The Time Lord was soon greeted by the sight of a man who looked identical to the Don George of the Accumula Town Battle Club. "If it's battle-related, I'm your man. I welcome you to the Pokemon Battle Club. What can I do for you?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, I went to the Nacrene Gym..."

Don George nodded. "Say no more. So you were roundly defeated by all of Lenora's tricks. Herdier's Roar and Watchog's Mean Look. It stands to reason that she's still using them both."

The Time Lord frowned, slightly offended by Don George's assessment. "Uh, not really."

"You got past those moves by Lenora on your first battle? That's amazing! No one else who came to see me managed that feat. How did you do it?"

The Doctor's answer made Don George slip up and fall on his back on the floor, in the style of many an anime. "I watched someone else battle her."

Don George chuckled as he got up off the floor. "But the important fact remains that you still lost."

The Time Lord huffed. "Oi! Her Pokemon were fast though."

"Right, fast they are." The man proceeded to lead the Doctor to a pair of massive steel doors. "But I do know what you're looking for, so get ready. You've come to the right place for some hard training."

"That's what I _was_ looking for." deadpanned the Time Lord.

"Very well, but I warn you. My brand of special training is not for the faint of heart. Get it?"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, taking offense to the comment. "Do I look like the faint of heart?"

Don George responded with a question of his own. "Do you want me to answer that question?" The Time Lord remained silent, locked in deep thought, causing the man to shrug as the doors slid open by themselves. "Alright, follow me through these doors."

* * *

Author's notes: Hmmm... Another chapter done. I decided to write a short one this time for a change, since my chapters have been getting rather long lately. Anyway, one thing I'm excited for is the fact that the second half of Series 6 of Doctor Who will begin this Saturday, which is welcomed, considering the fact that the first half ended on a months-long cliffhanger. But I have to say, I appreciate the reviews. They are partial motivation for me to write, and if I get plenty, it tells me that people like the story, and I had better get off my butt and make sure the next chapter is uploaded quickly. The next chapter would cover what the Doctor does over the next week, so if anyone has any ideas for short, occasionally quirky scenes that can span a day, I'd like to hear them. Well, here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) A running joke on Doctor Who is the fact that Rory gets injured on a near constant basis, which in most cases would require hospitalization. Some such incidents would normally kill a person.

(2) Despite his frequent injuries, Rory appears to have a knack for recovering from them unusually quickly.

(3) This line was spoken by the Doctor's fourth incarnation in the serial "Robot", to emphasize the point that he is commonly known by the term. He tends to have a low opinion on everyone else who uses it.

(4) It is no secret that the mere mention of the Doctor's name has occasionally caused his enemies to flee without a fight. In that sense, his reputation largely preceeds him.

(5) Time Lords have the abilities of touch-enabled mental manipulation, which has manifested itself in a number of different ways, including hypnosis, mind-reading, thought sharing, the ability to relieve dementia, mentally influncing the dreams of others, memory suppresion and erasure, and the recovery of forgotten memories.

Like anything, OCs are being accepted, likely until the Doctor, Rory, and Amy reach Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Nathen Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**


	27. A Week to Recover

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated...it is finished when it surrenders." _– Ben Stein

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 27: A Week to Recover**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Battle Club, Training Room 1, January 10, 2011, 10 a.m.)_

The Doctor exhaled deeply as he grabbed the next handhold of a tall climbing wall, wires secured to a harness around his waist to keep him from plummeting to the ground if his grip faltered. "Come on Snivy, I'm ahead of you! Keep up down there!"

Several feet below the Time Lord's position, the Grass Snake Pokemon huffed as she stood on a handhold, catching her breath with an upward glance at her Trainer. "Vy. Sni. Sni."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, don't give me that. How far did you get into Route 1's forest the first time I met you? It must have taken a lot of swinging through the trees to get there. This isn't _too different_."

"Sni! Snivy!"

The Time Lord sighed with a shrug. "Are you chickening out like a Dunsparce? And even a Dunsparce is more tenacious. Guess I was wrong about you and your abilities. Maybe those performances in battle were all just flukes. No matter, I have Tepig and Oshawott."

The Grass Snake Pokemon's eyes widened. "SNIVY!" Straightening her posture on the handhold, she swung a vine from her shoulder upwards, quickly grabbing a hold above her and pulling herself up. She repeated the process again, soon reaching the level of the Doctor's head.

The Time Lord chuckled. "Now that's what I call progress."

Snivy smirked as she peered down to see her Trainer pull himself up to another handhold. Unfortunately, she stared a tad too far over the edge, slipping forward and off the climbing wall. "VY! VY!"

"SNIVY!" Reacting quickly, the Doctor reached out and grabbed one of the Grass Snake Pokemon's vines and curled it around his arm, preventing her from a landing on the soft mats laid out at the base of the wall. Reaching up with her other vine, Snivy wrapped it around her Trainer's waist as she hoisted herself up by retracting the vines. Gripping the Doctor's leg, Snivy scampered up his frame to come to rest on his shoulder. The Time Lord breathed a sigh of relief. "You really live on the fringe, my friend."

Snivy nodded. "Vy."

"Well, up you go." Cupping her frame in one hand, the Doctor tossed his Pokemon into the air, enabling her to use a vine to grab onto another handhold

"Sni." The Doctor proceeded to clamor up the wall, noticing that his Pokemon was a meter away from the summit. Snivy scaled up with relative ease, before extending a vine down towards her Trainer, an offer the Doctor took. Gritting her teeth, Snivy walked backwards, using the upward traction to hoist up her Trainer.

Sitting on the wall's summit, the Doctor beamed at the Grass Snake Pokemon. "Guess the pep talk worked, eh?" Snivy smirked before throwing her body against her Trainer's, giving the Time Lord a slight shove, causing him to slip off the summit with a yelp of surprise. Dangling a few inches near the top of the wall, the Doctor chuckled as he caught Snivy's amused gaze, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "Okay, I guess I deserved that…" Snivy chuckled, extending a vine for her Trainer to pull himself back onto the summit.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Battle Club, Training Room 2, January 10, 2011, 1 p.m.)_

The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he ran on a large treadmill along with Tepig. Four holes opened out from the corners of the room, aimed directly at those on the treadmill. The Time Lord's eyes widened as a red light mounted on the ceiling flashed. "Alright Tepig, here they come. Pretend they're attacks and remember to dodge every last one of them."

Tepig nodded. "Pig."

A second later, four hard rubber balls shot out from the hoses at the treadmill's occupants. "NOW!" Tepig leapt up, causing a ball aimed towards him to pass harmlessly underneath. The Time Lord tilted his head to the side, a ball nearly hitting his ear. He let out a low whistle as the other two balls bounced away from the treadmill's frame. "Okay, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Te."

"Alright, now for the next wav...GAH!" The Fire Pig Pokemon spun around, noticing his Trainer sprawled down on the treadmill's conveyor belt, a ball having hit his head. The Doctor's frame slid down towards the floor.

"TEPIG!" Tepig rushed to his Trainer's aid, his teeth catching the end of the Time Lord's right sleeve as he moved to pull the Doctor back onto the machine. Reaching out with his left arm, the Time Lord clutched the edge of the treadmill to keep himself from sliding off, gritting his teeth as the conveyor belt raked his stomach. Looking up, the Doctor's eyes widened as he saw a fast approaching ball in Tepig's direction. With his right arm, he scooped Tepig's frame into the space under his neck, wincing as the ball hit his arm. The threat over, Tepig bit back down on his Trainer's sleeve, continuing to drag the Doctor towards the treadmill's front, the Time Lord sliding his left arm along the machine's edge to assist his Pokemon in the task.

Before long, the Doctor noticed another ball about to strike Tepig. "TEPIG, BEHIND YOU!" Spinning around, the Fire Pig Pokemon released his grip on his Trainer's sleeve, and in a move that surprised the Time Lord, dashed headlong towards the ball, running against the treadmill's rolling surface. Tepig smacked the front of his head into the ball, knocking it aside as he shook off any disorientation. The Doctor used his left hand to crawl along the edge of the treadmill, enduring the conveyor belt grinding against his torso and a ball hitting the center of his back, his Pokemon's action providing him with enough cover to reach the bar holding up the machine's control panel. Grabbing the bar with his right hand, he pulled himself up, slamming a fist down onto the emergency stop button. He breathed a sigh of relief as the conveyor belt and hoses stopped. The Doctor turned to face Tepig. "Well, now that was a workout."

"Pig. Te. Te."

"But what you did back there when you knocked away the ball so I could get to the controls? That was Take Down! You learned a new move, Tepig!"

Tepig beamed. "PIG! TE!"

The Doctor collapsed onto the floor. "Celebrate all you want, but I think I need someone with a spatula to scrape me off the floor…"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Battle Club, Training Room 3, January 10, 2011, 4 p.m.)_

The Doctor stared down at Oshawott from the edge of an oval-shaped swimming pool with a ramp attached to its end and a platform in its middle, watching as the Sea Otter Pokemon took a leisurely swim on his back. "I'll take your word for it that the water's fine, Oshawott."

Oshawott snickered. "Wott. Osha."

"No, I think I'm fine with where I am. Thank you." Not taking "no" for an answer, Oshawott chuckled, flinging his scalchop at the far wall behind his Trainer. The appendage struck the wall, bouncing back to hit the back of the Time Lord's cranium, causing him to stumble forward into the pool.

Spluttering, the Doctor stuck his head up from under the water, catching sight of Oshawott laughing. "Oh, you think that's funny, is it?" Reaching for the pool's edge, he grabbed his Pokemon's scalchop, catching Oshawott's attention. "Look what I have, Oshawott. Now let's see if you can get it back!" The Time Lord flung the scalchop at the end of the pool, throwing it high enough that it came to rest at the top of the ramp.

The Sea Otter Pokemon's eyes widened in alarm. "OSHA!"

The Doctor smirked. "That's what I call payback. If you want your scalchop back, you had better be prepared to swim against the current." Pointing his sonic screwdriver at a nearby control panel, the Time Lord pushed the device's button, causing intense, artificial currents to swirl around the perimeter of the pool in an anti-clockwise direction, pushing the Doctor and Oshawott away from the ramp.

"Osha! Osha!"

The Time Lord gazed smugly at his Pokemon as he laid on his back, drifting with the current. "I'm not the one that wants that scalchop, Oshawott. You do. And don't think you can just simply drift along until you're at the ramp's base. There are more currents there to fight through."

"WOTT!" Without wasting another second, the Sea Otter Pokemon hastily swam against the current in a bid to reach the ramp, gritting his teeth as the current tried to push him back. Reaching the base of the ramp, Oshawott winched as the localized currents there buffeted his frame, making it a struggle to stay in the area.

"Now be creative." In response to his Trainer's comment, the Sea Otter Pokemon aimed his head down towards the pool's platform, using Water Gun to strike it, propelling himself backward into the air along the direction of the ramp. "There you go, Oshawott, you can do it. Now do what we did at the Striaton Gym. Use Water Gun at the ceiling." Aiming his head up, Oshawott fired a forceful shot of water which struck the ceiling, shooting him down towards the top of the ramp. Unfortunately, he added a tad too much force and found himself missing his destination, grasping the edge of the ramp's top to keep himself from falling to the floor. "And pull yourself up!" Oshawott complied, quickly yanking himself up onto the top of the ramp, retrieving his scalchop. Beaming, the Doctor stopped the pool's currents with the sonic screwdriver, climbing out the pool as the Sea Otter Pokemon slid down the ramp to join him.

Don George walked into the room, accompanied by Snivy and Tepig. "I saw how you handled your Pokemon today, Doctor. And that is an ideal training regime to adopt for the week."

The Time Lord nodded. "Oh, I agree. Quite a good idea if you ask me." The eyes of the Doctor's Pokemon widened as they collapsed onto the floor in an exhausted heap. "Oh come on, you guys, it's not that bad!"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Battle Club, Battlefield 5, January 11, 2011, 2:30 p.m.)_

Standing on one end of a battlefield in the Nacrene City Battle Club, the Doctor crossed his arms as he gazed across the room at Amy. "Alright then, Pond. Ready for a battle?"

Amy sighed in slight annoyance, sending the Time Lord a sentiment that she was present in the room against her will. "Can't you ask someone else to battle you?"

"Everyone else is busy with repairing the damages to the museum. Besides, I think you need some fresh air. How long have you been cooped up in Rory's room anyway?"

"He's my husband, Doctor. And besides, about the museum, I think that's a job you should be attending to as well, but then again..."

"Cleanup and I don't get along, put it that way **(1)**. Anyway, to the others, I'm just a beginning Trainer. I doubt anyone sees me as a serious threat...yet, and thus, if I battled them, they'd likely not take me seriously, and that would one day be to their folly **(2)**. Because I'm _more_ than just someone starting their Pokemon journey. _Much more_ than that."

Amy cast the Doctor a wayward glance. "Should they see you as a problem for now? Aren't you just starting out as a Trainer?"

"Heck, I could sense that some of the observers were underestimating me when I battled Miri."

"Can you blame them? You only had those three Pokemon for what? A day? The fact that you drew that battle surprised us all."

"It doesn't matter if I'm battling monsters or training Pokemon. I'm full of surprises, Pond."

"The fact that you are posing as a researcher is probably why you are taking the lead in this journey. I'll bet the people who saw you go against Miri assumed that your knowledge of Pokemon and Trainer concepts was what allowed you to get a sizeable foothold in that battle. You used that to make up for the fact that your Pokemon were relatively inexperienced. Am I right? Of course, the first time you battled N, Miri also said that you could simply have lots of potential." Amy shrugged. "I dunno, just me theorizing."

"Shall we get down to business?" Without waiting for an answer from his companion, the Doctor nodded as Don George strode into the room, standing at the outer edge of the battlefield's middle.

The Battle Club's manager cleared his throat. "Alright, it's time to begin the battle between the Doctor and Amy Pond! Each side will use one Pokemon each, and the battle will be over when one of those Pokemon is unable to battle. Begin!"

Amy fingered her only Pokeball, a brief glimpse of uncertainty flashing across her visage. "I guess we're up, Herdier." The woman flicked her wrist slowly, sending out the Loyal Dog Pokemon. In response, the Doctor tossed his Snivy's Pokeball, wordlessly gracing the battlefield with her presence.

"Like before, you may have the first move." offered the Time Lord.

The woman bit her lip. "O-Okay-y. Herdier, u-use Work U-Up…" The Loyal Dog Pokemon complied, the makings of a crimson aura beginning to surround his frame.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes slightly. _"Is that hesitation I detect from Amy?"_ "Snivy, stop Herdier with Vine Whip!" A brief smirk crossing her face, Snivy dashed forward in her opponent's direction, a pair of long green vines firmly extended from her shoulders.

"Herdier, d-dodge!"

"To your left, Snivy!" Dispersing the aura of Work Up, Herdier attempted an evasive maneuver, jumping aside in a bid to catch Snivy off-guard and make her waste her energy in launching an attack in the space he formerly occupied. However, due to the tip supplied by her Trainer, the Grass Snake Pokemon remained unfazed, twisting the vine from her left shoulder and giving her opponent a well-aimed smack across his face. Noting the accomplishment of her primary objective in making Herdier cease his move, and dealing additional damage to him to boot, Snivy felt her lips form into another smirk, a facial expression that her Trainer cannot be said to share. Instead, the Doctor sported a mix of confusion and concern.

Amy visibly tensed. "N-No! Herdier, Bite!" Before she could retract her vine by any significant length, Snivy found herself shrieking in pain as Herdier stretched his head out and clamped down on the green appendage with his jaws. "Tackle!" Snivy's vine firmly held in place by his mouth, Herdier rushed forward.

The Time Lord straightened his features, trying to put on a calm front. "Flip Herdier with Vine Whip." Gritting her teeth through the pain, the Grass Snake Pokemon lashed out with the vine from her right shoulder, taking a second to perceive the Loyal Dog Pokemon's advance towards her small frame. In a blindingly-fast motion, the Grass Snake Pokemon wrapped the vine around Herdier's front left leg, giving it a quick tug. Herdier's eyes widened in surprise as his leg was pulled forward beyond his control, losing his footing and sliding down onto his stomach, barreling into Snivy, and completing his move in an ungraceful fashion. The Grass Snake Pokemon quickly regained her composure, using a quick flick of her vine to send the Loyal Dog Pokemon sprawling onto his back, the sudden impact causing him to bark in surprise, releasing his grip on the vine he held captive.

"Come on, Herdier, get out of there!"

The Doctor continued his stoical façade as his words overpowered Amy's in volume and dominance. "Vine Whip! And while you're at it, Snivy, use Mega Drain!" In the manner of a lasso, the Grass Snake Pokemon whipped back the newly freed vine extended from her left shoulder and brought it forward, whacking the Loyal Dog Pokemon across the stomach. Still wrapped around Herdier's leg, the vine from Snivy's right shoulder adopted a dark green glow, proceeding to derive the Loyal Dog Pokemon of his energy, transferring it to the Grass Snake Pokemon.

Amy found her lips slipping up some of her words. "H-Herdier, get back o-on your f-feet!" Noting that a good portion of Snivy's physical strength lay in her vines, the Loyal Dog Pokemon took advantage of her comparatively low body weight, flipping himself over and surprising his opponent, causing her to be flung into the air from his sudden movement. Forced to cease both her attacks, Snivy found herself a meter shy of her frame striking the room's ceiling, tethered by her vine around her opponent's leg. "Pull Snivy in and use Take Down!" Herdier drew his front left leg inwards, yanking Snivy downward from her place in the air. Ensuring a short distance between his incoming opponent and his head, the Loyal Dog Pokemon raced forward, taking a sudden right turn with the intent of sandwiching the smaller Pokemon between a wall and his cranium.

"Stop Herdier, Snivy!" Still keeping a vine wrapped around Herdier's leg, Snivy extended its counterpart towards the wall, pressing the end of the appendage into the hard plaster and halting the Loyal Dog Pokemon's advance. Her body suspended a meter in the air and caught between the lengths of her green appendages, Snivy squeezed her eyes shut from the pressure of holding Herdier's larger mass at bay with a single vine, for a slight lapse in focus would have increased the chances of an appointment with crushing defeat. "Now push, Snivy!" The Grass Snake Pokemon extended the vine around Herdier's leg from her body, causing him to slide a few inches backward to his surprise.

The woman bit her lip nervously "Herdier, add more force!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon dug his paws into the floor, preventing any further loss in traction, as he once again moved forward, forcing the Grass Snake Pokemon to retract some of the vine around his leg, lest the loose length give Herdier a vulnerable spot to strike.

"Snivy, disengage and try to duck." The Grass Snake Pokemon nodded, hastily withdrawing the vine she had pressed against the wall and releasing much of the tension that held her in place a short distance impact with it. Suddenly free of the resistance offered by Snivy's vine, Herdier found himself barreling forward in her direction. The Grass Snake Pokemon attempted to dive towards the floor as the Loyal Dog Pokemon neared her, but due to the vine still around his leg, found this a to be a difficult feat to accomplish. Herdier slammed into the wall as Snivy unsuccessfully tried to reach the floor head first, finding her tail pinned by her opponent, dangling her upside down and localizing the damage she sustained. The Doctor whistled. "Okay then, in that case, grab Herdier's tail."

"Bite!" Before the Grass Snake Pokemon could react, the Loyal Dog Pokemon bit down on her tail, both Pokemon still pressed into the wall. Herdier removed his front from the plaster structure and with a deft smack using his front right leg, freed his other foreleg from his opponent's vine.

A gasp of exhaustion escaped Snivy's lips, one which the Doctor did not fail to hear. _"Snivy's fatigued, but then again, so is Herdier. I can't have this dragging on…" _"Snivy, while Herdier's there, use Leaf Tornado!"

Amy's eyes widened as she realized the ramifications being stuck by Leaf Tornado would have for her Pokemon. "Drop Snivy and run, Herdier!"

"I don't think so, Pond." No sooner did the Loyal Dog Pokemon release his opponent's tail from his jaws did Snivy wrap a vine around his waist with speed that would have made a Ninjask jealous. Taking advantage of her current upside down position, Snivy whipped up a tornado, tinted green with an aura within it and supplemented with glowing leaves, ensnaring both Pokemon in its clutches.

Amy gasped. "HERDIER!"

The Doctor closed his eyes, and bent his head towards the floor, a deep sigh passing from his lips. "Stop." The vortex of air traveled towards the center of the battlefield before taking an abrupt dive towards the floor, expelling the Pokemon contained within. Herdier tumbled out roughly, making hard contact with the floor in several places as he slid into the spectator's seats. Snivy shook her head in a slight daze as she landed gracefully onto the battlefield.

Don George rushed toward Amy's Pokemon, taking a quick glance before he passed his judgment on the battle's result. "Herdier is unable to battle and the winners are the Doctor and Snivy! By the way, Doctor, your Snivy has really grown in strength and battle prowess." The Time Lord gave the Battle Manager a solemn nod as the man left the room, his job finished.

A small tear escaping the corner of her eye, Amy rushed toward her Loyal Dog Pokemon, wrapping her arms gently around his neck. The tear flowed down her cheek, landing on Herdier's dark coat as more soon followed it. The woman shook as sobs began to rack her frame. Weakly raising his head, the Loyal Dog Pokemon managed a slow lick across his Trainer's chin, lapping away any tears that fell.

A hand rested itself on Amy's shoulder, prompting her to look up and the Doctor, with his Snivy perched on his own shoulder. "You okay, Pond? You seemed distracted during that battle, and your Herdier felt it too. When a Trainer doesn't think straight, it consequently affects how they command their Pokemon, and also how said Pokemon behaves. A Clear Mind is one essential thing every battling Trainer should possess. That, and a passion for battling on the level of the soul, a passion that should burn brightly. A Blazing Soul."

"Just like the story of the Legendary Signer you told us?"

"Exactly."

Amy sighed. "A lot has happened lately, Doctor. Us arriving in this world, my Munna being taken, the museum robbed, and now Rory in hospital with a concussion. No wonder I can't think straight right now."

"Maybe having this battle wasn't such a good idea."

Amy allowed a low sigh to escape her lips as she continued to stroke her Herdier, wiping away her tears. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Doctor."

The Time Lord shook his head. "Don't be. I was in the wrong for dragging you out here. I'm the one who should be apologetic **(3)**. I applaud you for putting up a strong front in light of what happened to Rory though."

"I guess you'll just have to train alone then."

"That's fine. It's certainly not the first time for me."

"Do you have a plan for Lenora?"

The Doctor scoffed. "A plan? Do I really need to go to the trouble of devising one? Maybe a tactic, one that might just turn her Roar-Mean Look switching combo upside down on its head."

"Not going to share it?"

"If I did now, you might as well call me a squawking Chatot."

Despite her current disposition, Amy could not help but smile. "Considering how often you talk…"

The Time Lord hastily continued to talk. "That, by the way, contrary to what you may think, is _not_ an invitation. Don't call me a squawking Chatot, call me the Doctor."

Amy chuckled. "You squawking Chatot!"

The Doctor huffed. "Stop it."

"Ha! Ha! Squawking Chatot!"

"Stop it!"

Amy's chuckling soon began to escalate. "Squawking Chatot!"

"Come on, just stop!"

The woman laughed, causing Herdier and Snivy to join in. "No way!"

Despite his predicament, the Time Lord found himself grinning. _"I can't stay mad at her. Laughing at me like she doesn't have a care in the world… Now that's the Amy Pond I know..."_

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Cafe Warehouse, January 12, 2011, 1 p.m.)_

Walking through a door, Amy smiled as she allowed her eyes to scan the interior of the restaurant. "Well, this looks like a nice place for lunch."

Stepping in behind her, the Doctor let out a low chuckle. "You've been eating what, hospital food for the last three days? I think it's a good change for once."

The woman rolled her eyes as she slid into a booth, watching as the Time Lord took the seat opposite the table from her. "Just don't say anything about bow ties here."

The Doctor pouted. "What? They're cool! Why I don't see any waiters wearing them?"

Amy picked up a menu, flipping through its pages. "I have no idea, and frankly, I just want to be free of your eccentricity for one meal."

The woman was soon distracted as a waiter arrived at the booth. "Alright, may I take your order?"

Amy thumbed through the pages of the menu. "The soup looks good. I think I'll have that."

"Tomato or Cream of Mushroom?"

"Cream of Mushroom, please."

"Garnished with parsley, cucumber or carrot?"

"Parsley."

"Would you like it with bread or crackers?"

Amy paused for a moment as she turned to the Doctor. "Oooo... They have a lot of choices here, don't they, Doctor?" The woman frowned as she noticed her companion in a slight daze, detached from the world surrounding him. "Doctor?" The Time Lord offered no response, his mind running over a surfacing mental image.

_Within the dining room of a castle, two men who appeared to be in their mid-twenties with the same features sat at both ends of a long table, one with combed back blonde hair, and the other with dark hair. The blonde haired man twirled a knife in his hand as he stared at the roast boar and soup set in front of him. Next to him was Victini, licking its lips at a bowl of melted chocolate. The blonde haired man stared across the table at the other man, who had been served with an identical dish of roast boar. The dark haired man's Genesect scraped its pointed arms against each other, the noise sounding off from its brown exoskeleton audible throughout the room._

_The chamber's only other occupant, a servant, attended to the dark haired man. "A soup or a salad with the dish for your supper tonight, sir?"_

_The dark haired man gazed at the other man's bowl of soup. "Why were you served your side dish first, without asking for anything?"_

_The blonde haired man shrugged. "Eh? I told them what I wanted in advance."_

_The dark haired man's voice was gruff as he returned his attention to the servant. "Salad..."_

_The servant nodded. "With diced Pecha Berries or Tamato Berries?"_

_The dark haired man's left eye began to twitch, an action unnoticed by the servant. "Tamato Berries..."_

_"A sauce or vinegar?"_

_The dark haired man let out a low growl, which the servant again failed to notice. "Vinegar..."_

_"Flavored with Slowpoke tail or Tropius fruit?"_

_The dark haired man snarled, pointing at the servant. "GENESECT!" The blonde haired man and the Victory Pokemon paled as the Paleozoic Pokemon rushed forward with an arm extended, impaling the servant in the center of the chest with the appendage's sharp end, giving him no time to scream. Genesect let out a low chuckle as it felt the man's body twitch twice and go limp on its arm as blood splattered its exoskeleton. Without hesitation, it proceeded to devour the corpse. The dark haired man shrugged. "On second thought, I think I will go without a side dish tonight. That menu of yours offering all those meal options was a terrible idea, brother." With an unspoken agreement sealed, the blonde haired man and Victini began to quietly retreat from the room, an action that did not escape the notice of the other man. "And just where are you two off to?"_

_The blonde haired man bit his lip. "Um, Victini and I have decided to go to bed early. Right, Victini?" The Victory Pokemon nodded vigorously in agreement._

_The dark haired man gazed at the untouched meals left by the other man and Victini, his words punctuated by Genesect's not so subtle manner of feasting. "Not eating your supper, dear brother?"_

_The blonde haired tried to avoid eye contact with the Paleozoic Pokemon, a feat he found hard to achieve when said creature made a loud crunch by snapping a bone in half with its jaws. "I think I have eaten my fill earlier. Good night to you. I will see you in the morning." With those words, the blonde haired man and the Victory Pokemon dashed to the door, vanishing through it in a second._

_The dark haired man rolled his eyes. "What wimps those two are..." His notice was then brought to the uneaten food, and he shrugged. "No matter, more for me then..."_

"_W-What h-happened h-here?" The dark haired man perked up at the voice from the door, noticing a knight with his eyes widened._

_Following the knight's line of vision, the dark haired man noticed that Genesect had reduced the servant's corpse to bones, as he chuckled. "Some people really make an inconvenient mess for others when they die." Remembering the knight's presence, the man smirked. "Oh yes, you were the one that recently got married to a servant girl. Your name, boy?"_

_The knight bit his tongue. "A-Allen, s-sir."_

"_And your new bride?"_

"_K-Kayla."_

_The dark haired man smirked as he tapped his forehead. "Ah, good that you remembered for me, and I do not have to waste space in here for such nonsensical and redundant information. Allow me to allocate a special treat to your new wife in celebration of your wedding, boy."_

_Allen stiffened, not knowing what to expect. "A-And what w-would that b-be, s-sir?" _

_The dark haired man clicked his fingers, his voice echoing throughout the nearby corridors as he pointed at the dead servant's skeleton. "KAYLA! I COMMAND YOU TO CLEAN UP THIS HEAP OF GARBAGE!"_

The Doctor found the image leave his head as Amy's voice penetrated his ears. "Doctor!"

The Time Lord shook his head slightly. "W-What?"

Amy huffed. "You zoned out again." Taking a closer look at her companion's face, her expression soon softened. "Uh, Doctor? Are you alright? You look kinda pale..."

The Doctor nodded. "Fine, but I'll pass on lunch, thank you."

"You sure? There's a free Soda Pop today since it's Wednesday."

"Tempting, but yeah, I'm sure." The Time Lord sighed as he was left a moment to think. _"Even though he isn't around now, he can still make me lose my appetite."_

His attention was soon drawn towards the front of the restaurant, where a tall, elderly bearded man dressed in ragged clothing and wearing a top hat with messy white hair underneath, was in conversation with the restaurant's manager, who appeared to be rather displeased. "You are telling me that you don't have the money to pay for your lunch?"

Amy tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "Doctor? What are you looking at?" The Time Lord simply shushed the woman, directing her to observe the same scene he was.

The elderly man shook his head. "Not on me, sir, but rest assured, if you let me go out for a few minutes, I'll be back with enough to settle my bill."

The manager crossed his arms. "And why should I do that instead of handing you over to Officer Jenny? You could run off and I'll be the fool."

The elderly man produced an unusually black-colored violin. "It'll be worth your while. This is Penelope. Playing her in the streets was my only source of income for the last few years. People loved the music her strings put forth. To me, she's a faithful friend. Hold on to her until I get back. I have no reason to deceive you, for if I did, you'd keep her and I would have to resort to begging, alone and lonely."

"Very well, but I'm holding the violin if you don't return."

The elderly man bowed as he exited the restaurant, leaving the violin on the manager's desk. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Amy rolled her eyes as the waiter returned with her soup and Soda Pop. "That's it? Seriously, Doctor, it was just an old man going out to get money and leaving his precious violin as collateral." A spoonful of soup disappeared into her mouth. "Sometimes, you get so worked up over the slightest things."

The Doctor waved off her comment. "There's more, Pond. Just watch. Besides, the man said that playing the violin as a street performer was his only source of income. If so, and he doesn't have enough money to pay for his meal, where is he going to get that money from?" Amy simply shrugged in response, preferring to drink her soup before it became cold than ponder the Time Lord's question.

A minute passed before the manager was approached by an elegant man dressed in a tuxedo, abruptly stopping in front of his desk. "Could it be? May I examine that violin for a minute?"

The manager locked eyes with the man. "Excuse me?"

The man produced a card from his pocket, his voice containing a static undertone. "Oh, where are my manners? Edwin Koban, auctioneer of musical instruments."

The Doctor cupped his chin._ "That man certainly has an odd voice. Where have I heard it before?"_

The manager shrugged. "Uh, sure."

Edwin fingered the surface of the violin. "Well, that is most certainly a rare specimen you've got there, sir."

"It is?"

"Why yes! Notice that its entire body is a solid black." Edwin proceeded to tap his fingers against the instrument's frame, reveling in the sound produced. "And get a hear for those acoustics. It's unmistakable. This violin, my friend, is crafted from the finest ebony money can buy! Ebony's certainly an unusual wood to use in making violins, as normally, it's just used to craft the pegs and tailpiece."

"I see."

"Due to the unusual choice of expensive and fine ebony for the wood, and the rarity of such an instrument, this violin is potentially worth millions of Pokedollars at auction."

The manager's eyes widened in disbelief. "Really now?"

Edwin nodded. "I'm telling you the truth, sir. In fact, I'm willing to make you an offer on that violin." Before he could continue, a ringing sound emitted from Edwin's pocket. "Oh goodness me, I must be off. Business appointment. But do think about what I said. You have my card." Without another word, the man dashed out of the restaurant, leaving the manager cupping his chin and staring at the violin.

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the instrument. "The manager is being cheated. That is _not_ an ebony violin."

Amy cast a glance at the instrument amid a sip of soup. "It's not?"

"Nope. It's boxwood."

"Boxwood? But it's black!"

"More precisely, _ebonized_ boxwood."

Amy appeared to be puzzled. "What?"

The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Boxwood that has been stained black to look like ebony, Pond. It's common practice in the manufacture of chess pieces here, especially when both ivory and ebony is in short supply. Those are preferred due to their association with the princes. Anyway, boxwood is much cheaper than both materials. If you ask me, boxwood makes a fine substitute for ivory when it comes to making those white pieces. It certainly kills less Pokemon. Staining boxwood black makes it difficult to differentiate from ebony when brand new. In addition to that, both woods have a similar feel and acoustics, which is probably why that poor chap over there is being taken in."

"He's being scammed." said Amy.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Exactly. I had my suspicions when that old beggar left the violin with the manager. I thought I saw him somewhere before, and when Edwin spoke, something just clicked for me. The old man is Wiley Chase in disguise. Recognized the top hat too."

"That conman?"

"Precisely. And what he is up to now is something called the fiddle game."

"Sounds self-explanatory."

The Doctor sighed. "It is. The conman poses as a poor and improvised soul and orders a meal at a restaurant. At some point during the conman's meal, a professionally dressed assistant or shrill comes in and also orders a meal. After the conman finishes his meal, he tells the manager and his intended victim, the mark, that he doesn't have enough money to pay for it, and offers a violin as collateral while he goes out to get more money. For added effect, he cites the violin as his only source of income, with some sentimental value attached to it. Shortly after the conman leaves, the shrill finishes and pays for his own meal, then pretends to notice the violin, asking to examine it by introducing himself as an expert in musical instruments. Appraising the instrument, the shrill pretends to say that it is extremely valuable, then leaves the scene, passing the mark his card. As you can see, the scam has already advanced to that point."

Amy listened to the Doctor's words intently, her interest piqued. "What happens next?"

"The conman returns with the money for his meal. The scam plays on the mark's greed and desire to profit from that violin, so it is hoped that the mark would persuade the conman to sell him the violin for maybe a few hundred thousand Pokedollars. After all, the shrill said that the instrument was worth millions, so to the mark, he stands to profit from the transaction. If this happens, the conman sells the mark the violin and leaves. At the very least, the mark would later find out that the violin is a worthless wooden toy, or in this case, a cleverly made fake that's worth way less than the shrill said it was. By then, the conman and the shrill would have escaped with the money."

Amy sighed. "That's a scam, alright. So what if the mark doesn't fall for it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "If the mark is honest, he would pass on the shrill's card and the violin to the conman. The scammers would have paid for two meals, but are left with the violin to try the scam again at another restaurant."

"I see. So who's Wiley's accomplice?"

"A Ditto using an audio device with a recording to feign speech." deadpanned the Time Lord.

"What's a Ditto?"

The Doctor furrowed his brow. _"I could tell Amy to use the search function on her Pokedex, but I can't risk her finding out about its existence and then later doing a little 'exploring' on her own. She could discover the name of m-… I mean, the White Prince's dragon."_ He was quickly brought out of his thoughts as Amy shot him an expectant look. "Ditto is a Pokemon that can rearrange its cellular structure at will, enabling it to take on the form of any other physical object. What's unique about this is that it can imitate the form and attacks of its opponents in battle, which makes them feel as if they're fighting themselves."

The woman appeared to be skeptical as she kept the device. "Seriously? The accomplice is a Pokemon?"

"Remember when I exposed Wiley's con at Nuvema Town? Miri mentioned it at Accumula Town when we exposed him there. Anyway, that was what his accomplice turned out to be. The use of the audio device explains why that Edwin guy's vice sounded a bit like static."

The Doctor stopped talking as soon as he heard the restaurant's door open, the elderly man walking in, approaching the manager at his desk. Reaching for a Pokeball, he tossed it with a start. "Tepig, set that violin on fire with Ember!" The red-and-white sphere opened, sending out the Fire Pig Pokemon inside. Tepig raced towards the manager's desk, leaping into the air to be above his target. Bending his head down, he expelled a stream of fire bolts from his snout down onto the violin. The instrument caught fire upon contact with the attack, forcing the manager and the elderly man to back away. Landing on the desk, Tepig glanced at the retreating elderly man, and leapt onto his head, knocking off his top hat and biting down on his hair. Wrestling with the Fire Pig Pokemon, the elderly man ripped his hair off, revealing a head of light brown hair, styled in a military crew cut. Wiley threw his wig to the floor, tangling Tepig in it as he sent out his Abra, grabbing his top hat and quickly disappearing from sight with the help of the Psi Pokemon's Teleport.

"Looks like Wiley got away again, Doctor." muttered Amy.

The Doctor nodded with a sigh. "Unfortunately. And once again, he has his Abra to thank for it. The cheap stain they used probably wasn't even meant for wood, likely flammable too. And the fact that the violin burned so easily proves that it isn't made from ebony. One reason for its value is that ebony is a lot tougher and it takes much more than that to significantly burn it. In contrast, while a fine wood in its own right, boxwood isn't that strong." Shrugging, the Time Lord stretched out an arm towards the burning violin, allowing a slight breath to escape his nostrils. The fire died out immediately, leaving a charred pile of wood. "There wasn't even anything inside. It's just a hollow frame."

Amy gave the Doctor a look of astonishment. "How did you do that?"

The Time Lord scratched his head, feigning ignorance. "Do what?"

The woman huffed. "Put the fire out like that! You just stuck out your arm and it disappeared. How did you do it?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Magic."

Amy sighed. "You know what, somehow I figured you would say that."

"If I said anything more, it would ruin the surprise."

"And that." The Time Lord shrugged as he walked up to the manager, explaining Wiley's con, and receiving a meal voucher as thanks, as well as Amy's meal being on the house. The woman perked up as he returned his Tepig to a Pokeball and took his place at the booth again. "Are you sure you're not going to eat anything?"

"My appetite's shot today, Pond."

"Okay, just what could cause someone like you to lose your appetite? You're the Doctor!"

"Remember wallowing in a Star Whale's mouth and getting vomited out **(4)**?"

Amy wrinkled her face in disgust, eyeing her soup. "Urgh, don't bring that up here. I don't want to lose my lunch. But to you, it's probably tame."

"It is."

"Then what…"

The Doctor let out a deep sigh. "You won't understand…"

Amy's eyes softened. "Maybe not, but I can try."

"That's what I like about you, Amy. Deep down, you can be quite a softy."

The woman huffed. "Don't push it, buster."

"Don't wall yourself up, Pond."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"It's not something that I can freely talk about. Not now, I don't think."

Amy placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I understand. Remember what I said earlier?"

"What?"

"I said that I wanted to have a meal without being exposed to your eccentricities."

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Oh."

"I guess you destined to make a scene everywhere you go, eh?"

"You know me all too well." The Time Lord and the woman began to chuckle together for a period of several seconds before the Doctor stopped to speak. "Finish your lunch, Amy." Without another word, he closed his eyes in deep thought as the woman complied, the duration of the meal spent in meditative silence.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Rory's Ward, January 13, 2011, 8 p.m.)_

Careful not to drop it, Amy held her egg with the same care a mother would an infant, as she rubbed a damp cloth across its surface, just as Rory had taught her, and just as the Doctor had taught him with his Audino egg. She cast a glance at her sleeping husband before relaxing further into her chair, her attention stolen as the door opened. "Hey Doctor, how did the training go?"

The Doctor beamed as he entered the room. "I've noticed that Snivy's more flexible, Tepig's faster, and Oshawott has more stamina. Their attacks are all getting stronger now. How's Rory doing, Amy?"

Amy gestured to the sleeping nurse as she placed her egg back into its egg case. "Fine. I just managed to get him to sleep. He'll need the rest."

"That's good. Anyway..." The Time Lord's eyes found themselves staring at a remote control on Rory's nightstand, connected to his bed by a wire, and the small television screen mounted above it. "Ah, a TV! Just as well, since 'Pikachu's Fun Hour' is starting."

"Is that another one of those kids' shows you watch?"

The Doctor pouted. "It's not just for kids! It's for everyone!"

"With a name like that, I'd be inclined to think otherwise."

The Time Lord threw his arms into the air. "Whatever! It's going to start soon!" He turned to see a remote control resting on Rory's nightstand, connected to the bed by a wire. "Ah, there's the remote."

"Doctor, wait!"

"No time for that, Pond! This is a serious matter! I could wind up missing the first few seconds of the program! And I've said this before, every second, every _seemingly insignificant_ second counts!" Without another word, the Time Lord seized the remote, jabbing his fingers on a few buttons. His back turned to Rory and Amy, he failed to notice the fact that the front half of the bed was beginning to rise, his attention fixated on the blank television screen. "Why isn't the TV turning on? Maybe this button will work..."

Amy's eyes widened in alarm as Rory's bed contorted itself into a V-shape, bending the nurse's body by the waist. "Uh, Doctor..."

The Doctor kept his back to his companions as he continued to press buttons, irritated as the non-responsiveness of the television. "Not now, Pond!" The bed twisted into a spiral as the head bent down, compressing Rory's cranium down between two of its sections. "Sometimes, these remote controls are so unreliable..."

Amy gasped as the bed flattened out, before taking a sharp twist to the left, almost slamming into her midsection. "DOCTOR!"

Still not facing the woman, the Time Lord narrowed his eyes, fiddling with the remote. "Can't you see I'm busy, Pond?" The back of the bed folded over its front half, packing Rory's body inside like a sandwich.

Amy gripped the Doctor by the wrist as the bed flatted itself out again. "Doctor! That remote isn't for the TV!"

The realization made the Time Lord drop the remote, causing the bed to tilt sharply downwards, unceremoniously dropping Rory onto the floor. "What?"

A slow groan drew the attention of the Doctor and Amy, who noticed that Rory was awake, rubbing his head in a daze. "W-What h-hit m-me-e?"

The Time Lord chuckled. "I'll say this, Rory. The floor is certainly not a comfy place to catch a few Zs. Anyway, now I missed the start of that show..." Quickly coming to a realization, he clicked his fingers. "Oh, I just remembered. There's a rerun in two hours! I'll just head on down to the Pokemon Center to watch it. Good night, you two. I'll see you in the morning." He bent over to pick up the remote. "Oh, and here's the remote. Catch!" The Doctor hurled the device over his back at Amy, beyond her reach, as he walked out of the room. It flew towards the ceiling, smashing into the overhead light, sending glass fragments showering down on the couple as the ward was plunged into darkness. Walking down the corridor, the Time Lord jumped as he heard the crash, and briefly considered turning around to check, but quickly dismissed the idea with a shrug, soon disappearing out a nearby door.

Her vision suddenly reduced to zero, Amy brushed pieces of broken glass from her clothes as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Honest Joe's RVs, January 14, 2011, 5:13 p.m.)_

Walking up behind the Doctor, Amy peered over his shoulder at a massive lot, occupied by several RVs. "So Doctor, after you finished your training for the day at the Battle Club, you wanted to come straight out here. Now why are we at a second-hand RV dealership?"

The Time Lord chuckled as he surveyed the assortment of vehicles. "Well sometimes, having another way to travel around is good for you. A different way to see the same things. A change if you will. Yes, change. Change is good. In fact, sometimes, change can really, really, really save you from dire straits. It's like eating buttered toast in the morning and then discovering that it'll give you constipation, so you decide to have jelly babies instead. Get what I mean?"

"Not really."

"Good, because it's nothing like that at all."

"I don't even want to ask. Anyway, that reminds me, Doctor. Did you ever have any other mode of transport besides the TARDIS and you know, walking and running?"

The Doctor clicked his fingers in remembrance of something long buried within his mind. "Remember my dandy of a past self? The third guy in the Atraxi projection you saw?"

Amy chuckled. "You mean the guy we met at the Sunset Daycare who was way more _polite and charming_ than you?"

"Oh _shut up_, Pond. And let it go, I've moved on from him."

"You're the one who mentioned him."

The Time Lord continued to talk, disregarding Amy's previous comment. "Anyway, back in the day when I _was_ him, there was 'Bessie' **(5)**."

"Bessie?"

The Doctor clenched his hands into fists, moving them up and down as if they were clutching a steering wheel. "Yes. You know, Bessie."

Amy shook her head. "No, I don't know."

"Blimey! What is wrong with you young people these days? _He_ got what I meant immediately!"

"Who's 'he'?"

The Time Lord gave Amy a dismissive hand gesture. "Nevermind. Would look out of place if I drove Bessie around now."

"I'm going to guess that 'Bessie' is a car."

"Took you long enough to figure it out."

Amy shrugged. "Anyway, I thought you didn't care about not blending in, always wanting to show everyone how weird you are. You park a blue police box smack-dab in the middle of cities and think that no one will notice it."

"The TARDIS has a perception filter **(6)**. Anyway, when I first started out, I did care **(7)**. But back then, I was trying to be old and grumpy and important like you do when you're young **(8)**."

"So where's Bessie now?"

"In storage at UNIT headquarters. After I got out of the 'dandy phase', I still liked her, but I just didn't have the inclination to drive her as often as I once did **(9)**. I can come get her at any time though, like Trainers who leave their extra Pokemon in reserve. But boy, when I had her, I really tinkered with her. A lot. Maybe as much as I did with the TARDIS **(10)**."

"So now you miss the feeling of driving a four-wheeled vehicle and want to go from city to city in an RV?"

"Why not? Might save us some time." The Doctor perked up as he spotted a long and massive tour bus-shaped RV with slide-out floors in its middle section. Several large white sheets of cloth were draped over its frame, almost completely covering it. "Maybe that one…"

"Uh, Doctor? Don't you want to know first why it's all wrapped up like that?"

"I might just find out by looking inside."

"Can't you just ask a salesperson?"

The Time Lord scoffed. "If I did, then I would know the reason. And if I knew the reason, then I wouldn't have to look."

"Isn't that the idea?"

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Sense of adventure? It's just an RV!"

"Better an RV than a cave full of Daleks, no? Now if you'll excuse me, Pond, I have an RV to look over." The Doctor grabbed the vehicle's door handle and pulled outward, only to find that it would not budge. "Blimey, it's locked."

"Aren't you going to ask and find out why it's locked?"

The Time Lord shot his companion a smug look, brandishing his sonic screwdriver. "No need, Pond. I have this." He flicked of the device at the door, causing it to pop open. "And there we go."

"Have you ever considered the fact that it was locked _for a reason_?"

The Doctor cupped his chin as he walked into the RV, closing the door behind him. "Hmmm… No, not really."

Amy sighed. "Why do I even ask?"

Before she could react, a man in a tuxedo was at her side. "Oi! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here! And the man you were with, he just went inside, didn't he?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

The salesman's eyes widened. "How? The doors were locked!"

"Ask him when he comes out." Amy gestured at the RV. "What's with all that cloth?"

"We're fumigating the RV. The last owner drove it through Chargestone Cave and got it infested with a lot of Joltik."

"And Joltik is a species of Pokemon?" The man looked at Amy as if she sprouted an extra head. "What? I'm not from around these parts."

"They are the smallest Pokemon on record. They may not look like much, but can deliver rather nasty shocks."

"So you're killing them?"

The salesman shook his head. "Oh no, just knocking them out with some gas. Then we'll hand them over to researchers to return to Chargestone Cave."

Before long, both Amy and the salesman perked up when they heard a voice that was unmistakably the Doctor's. "ARGH! BACK, JOLTIK! BACK!"

"Looks like the Doctor found them." muttered Amy. A distinctive whistling noise was heard from within the RV before it collapsed into a heap of cloth covered metal, with some scraps flying outwards, forcing the two people outside to run a short distance in a bid to avoid getting caught up within the shower of spare parts.

As the dust settled, several small, yellow furry mite-like creatures emerged from under the cloth, rushing off in various directions. They had four blue, beady eyes and each of their four legs terminated in a blue point. Amy held up her Pokedex, scanning one of them.

_Joltik, the Attaching Pokemon. Joltik __attach themselves to large-bodied Pokemon and absorb static electricity, which they store in an electric pouch._

Putting away the Pokedex, Amy gazed at the figure who emerged from the cloth, a few small rips on his tweed jacket and trousers. "What happened, Doctor?"

The Doctor tossed his sonic screwdriver in the air, catching it with his other hand. "I went into the RV and quickly came across a large swarm of Joltik. Needless to say, they weren't too pleased to see me and advanced, so I used my sonic to try and stun them, you know, get them to back off a bit. I must have put it on the wrong setting because the RV collapsed around me."

"You seem to be rather unscathed."

"I have the power to survive punishment, Pond. A lot of it in any shape and size, including but not limited to collapsing walls, exploding buildings, malfunctioning electronics, hostile Legendary Pokemon, angry mobs, and falling from extreme heights... Okay, that one's debatable **(11)**. Now that I think about it, maybe walking is better than the RV." Amy opened her mouth to speak but the Time Lord interrupted her. "Your sore feet _isn't_ a factor in this argument, Pond."

The salesman huffed. "What about the RV?"

"It died." deadpanned the Doctor. "Not a good maintainer of its structural integrity if it collapses like that, no?" Before he could continue, yellow electricity surrounded his body and he began to go into several convulsions, every one of his nerves twitching at an unnaturally fast rate. He fell to the ground in spasms, his clothes smoking. An agitated Joltik leapt off the Time Lord's back and quickly scurried away.

Amy chuckled as she looked down at the Doctor's unconscious form. "I'm going to assume that the list doesn't include irritated Joltik..."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Corridors, January 15, 2011, 3:25 p.m.)_

Reaching a vending machine at a corridor in the hospital, the Doctor slipped in a 25 Pokedollar coin and made his choice, frowning when the machine refused to produce the requested drink, prompting the Time Lord's response of repeatedly jabbing his finger into the button, to no avail. "Oh, come on..." Reaching into his pocket, the Doctor prepared to use his sonic screwdriver on the machine, but was stopped as he heard the sound of a gurney being pushed. He watched a man in hospital garb leisurely push said gurney past him, a green sheet draped over a human shape. The Time Lord frowned as his nose wrinkled, staring at the man who disappeared down the corner and out of sight.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Rory's Ward, January 15, 2011, 3:55 p.m.)_

Watching over her sleeping husband, Amy jumped as the door to Rory's ward swung open, the Doctor barging in with a start. His words were straight and to the point. "Amy? I need a favor. Disguise yourself as a nurse."

* * *

Author's notes: This chapter sure went in a bunch of directions. A series of short scenes showing what the Doctor and Amy are up to in the week that Rory is recovering and most everyone else is fixing up the Nacrene Museum. The next chapter will also be filler, and was intended to be a part of this chapter, but I thought that would make this chapter too long. I'm not too sure if I did a good job on it myself. Credit for the idea of the RV scene and the plot for the next chapter goes to Master of the Boot. Here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) The Doctor dislikes cleaning up the mess that results from a crisis, usually opting to leave quietly and discreetly in the TARDIS, leaving the job to someone else, even if he directly caused the mess to begin with.

(2) A common mistake by several of the Doctor's enemies is underestimating him, partly due to his unimposing appearance and strange mannerisms. They soon learn where his reputation comes from when he goes up against them.

(3) As much as he hates to admit it, the Doctor is just as prone to making mistakes as the guy net to him.

(4) A star whale is a giant space-borne creature, resembling Earth's whales in basic structure. In the episode "The Beast Below", the Doctor and Amy wind up in a Star Whale's mouth after they attempted to protest its treatment at the hands of the Starship UK colony built on its back. They escape after the Doctor forces the creature to vomit them out with the sonic screwdriver.

(5) Bessie is a canary-yellow roadster utilized by the Doctor's third incarnation as a method of travel on Earth during his exile there.

(6) One reason the TARDIS usually goes undetected when parked in population centers is due to its perception filter, which makes all but the most discerning people think that it has always been there, reducing their inclination to question why it is obviously out-of-place.

(7) The Doctor's first incarnation gained his first travelling companions in the serial "An Unearthly Child" by kidnapping his granddaughter's two schoolteachers after they found their way into the TARDIS. His reasoning for this is that they might tell other people about the TARDIS if he let them go.

(8) This line was spoken by the Doctor's tenth incarnation to his fifth in the multi-Doctor special episode "Time Crash", citing how serious in demenour the Doctor had been in his earliest incarnations, compared to his latest ones.

(9) While the Doctor's incarnations following his third did use Bessie, it was on an extremely rare basis, not having the same attachment to her that the third incarnation did. As such, the car was relegated to storage in UNIT headquarters after the third incarnation's time.

(10) Due to his love of gadgets and mechanical work, the Doctor's third incarnation made many modifications to Bessie. These included an anti-theft force field which magnetically trapped anyone attempting to steal Bessie, a remote control with which the Doctor could steer the car from a distance, and a minimum inertia hyperdrive, which allowed him to drive at breakneck speed and still come to a sudden stop without him or his passengers being sent through the windscreen by inertia, which the brakes absorbed.

(11) The Doctor's fourth incarnation met his end when he fell from the top of an extremely tall radio telescope in the serial "Logopolis". Strangely, in the episode "The End of Time", his tenth incarnation leapt out of a spaceship from a comparable height and crashed through the glass roof of a building, suffering little more than minor injuries.

OCs are still being taken, likely until Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Wiley Chase belongs to Indigo Hare.**


	28. A Heinous Hospital Offence

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"__Five to six thousand people die every year waiting for organs, but nobody cares__." _– Jack Kevorkian

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 28: A Heinous Hospital Offence**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 4:10 p.m.)_

Her back resting against a far wall, her hands straightening out any creases that formed in her skirt, Amy cast the Doctor a suspicious glance as she gazed around the small room they had taken up refuge in. On one wall, several white nurse uniforms lined the racks built into it, with its counterpart on the opposite side playing host to an assortment of green hospital gowns. "Alright, Doctor. What is the meaning of this? It wasn't enough for you to simply waltz into Rory's room and ask me to dress up as a nurse, was it? No, without waiting for an answer, you simply grabbed me by the hand and dragged me into this walk-in closet before locking the door behind us."

The Time Lord idly shrugged, his fingers lazily fiddling with his sonic screwdriver. "Yes, I probably owe you an explanation, don't I? Just needed to find a place where we won't be overheard."

"What if someone else needs to get into the closet?

The Doctor shrugged again. "There are 26 other closets like this one in the hospital. It is a big facility." Upon catching his companion's raised eyebrow, he held up his hands sheepishly and defensively. "What? I was bored…" He turned to an open cupboard next to him, his fascination soon ignited at the contents of a box inside. "Oooo… Rubber bands." Taking a loop of rubber in his hands, the Time Lord began to gleefully stretch it across his fingers with a chuckle, much to Amy's chagrin.

"I see that your boredom has a short lifespan. Anyway, why are we in here?"

The Doctor twisted the rubber band along his palm. "Earlier today, I came upon something in the hospital that I couldn't possibly ignore, Pond."

"Oh, I see, you decided to get nosy again. How did your curiosity get sparked this time?"

"A vending machine malfunctioned." deadpanned the Time Lord.

"What?"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Corridors, January 15, 2011, 3:25 p.m.)_

The Doctor repeatedly poked his finger against the button of the vending machine he stood at, attempting to extract a refreshing drink after he had deposited his payment. "Oh, come on..." His fingers crept to a pocket on his tweed jacket, prepared to extract his sonic screwdriver, when the sound of wheels rolling in the distance caught his attention. A glance over his shoulder saw a man in hospital garb pushing a gurney past his back. The Doctor's eyes made out a human shape lying on the steel apparatus, with a green sheet draped over it. The Time Lord's nose wrinkled as a scent entered his nostrils, a frown crossing his face as the man wheeled the gurney out of sight around a corner.

Turning his back on the vending machine, the Doctor strolled at a leisurely pace down the path the man had traversed seconds ago. Catching sight of the man's back beyond the corner, the Time Lord ensured that no one else was watching, as he stretched out his left arm in the man's direction, pointing his open palm towards the gurney. The Doctor's palm glowed with a cobalt-blue sheen for five brief seconds before he closed his fingers into a tight fist, dissipating the light. The nails of his fingers dug hard into his palm, deep enough to notch marks into the flesh, but not to draw blood, as he was mindful of the fact that he cut that same palm on broken glass a week ago. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he continued down the corridor, taking care not to lose the man he was tailing.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 4:15 p.m.)_

Sensing that she would be confined to the closet for a prolonged period of time, Amy huffed as she rested her back against the wall, having resorted to sitting on the floor in a bid to avoid leg cramps from standing for too long. "So all this started just because you saw some hospital staff wheel away a dead bloke and decided to follow him. How did you know he was dead?"

The Doctor wrinkled his nose in remembrance of the incident. "I could smell him, Pond. The scent of death is unmistakable anywhere to Time Lords, even if you can't detect it."

Amy cringed in sympathy. "Nasty… But why _did_ you follow him?"

The Time Lord sighed, his overzealous fiddling of the rubber band ceasing slightly. "I was bored and got curious, okay? As if my counting how many medical supply closets like this one was any indication. Anyway, hospitals are all stuffy and bland and monotonous and there's that funny antiseptic smell everywhere and injured people and sick people and dead people and alphabet soup and volunteers who fight disease with music that sing to you in your bed and heart-shaped balloons and file cabinets full of records …"

The woman threw her arms in the air. "Alright! You don't have to tell me all of that, okay? Rory works in a hospital!"

"I just don't feel comfortable in one. They give me the creeps **(1)**. But I like their little gift shops."

"Why?"

"Because they're placed next to the exit **(2)**, which, may I remind you, clearly marks the way out."

Amy chuckled at her companion's skittishness in his surroundings. "What, did you die in a hospital way back when?"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at his companion's morbid joke, ceasing all intent to stretch the rubber band. "_Shut up_, Pond."

"Oooo… Touched a nerve, did I? So what happened next?"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Corridors, January 15, 2011, 3:30 p.m.)_

Fingers grasped around a corner of a wall, the Doctor peered slightly down the corridor as he noticed the man pushing the gurney past a pair of double doors at a leisurely pace. A few minutes passed before the man exited, dusting his hands off as he walked away, a cue for the Time Lord to follow. And follow he did, until his quarry paused. Quickly ducking into an empty ward, the Doctor peered out from the door, observing the man as he checked his watch before proceeding to disappear into a walk-in supply closet, locking the doors behind him.

Exiting the ward, the Doctor pressed his back against the wall as he slid along its length towards the closet door. Reaching for a Pokeball, he sent out his Snivy. "Check and let me know if anyone comes down this corridor." The Grass Snake Pokemon nodded and scurried off to find a vantage point that would offer her a good view of the corridor. Pushing his ear against the wall's surface a few centimeters from said door, the Doctor frowned as the thick wall prevented him from perceiving a word spoken on the other side, a problem he soon rectified by sticking the handle end of his sonic screwdriver into his ear canal and pressing the button, pointing the device at the wall.

The Doctor pursed his lips as the voice of a gruff man became clear. "Yes, everything went smoothly, Leo. I just disposed of the body as planned. "

Leo spoke out, a man with a calmer voice. "You did carry out the operation with the others, right Chuck?"

"Yep. The guy was on his last legs anyway. It was pretty obvious to everyone that he'll be a dead goner. It's not really going to matter to him if we take a few spare parts."

Leo cleared his throat. "Were the stitches done?"

A woman grumbled in annoyance. "Yeah, the stitches were done at the end of the operation, I saw to it myself."

"Very well, Terri. Were you seen, Chuck?"

Before Chuck could answer, Terri beat him to the punch. "This is a hospital! What do you expect? But before you ask, no one suspected anything. They probably thought Chuck was just some staff member wheeling a poor dead guy to the morgue. Someone else will come over later and shove the body into one of those big drawers built into the morgue's wall, I suppose."

"What if that guy sees the stitches?" asked Leo.

Chuck muttered a few incorrigible words under his breath before continuing. "You can't tell that they're there unless you really look. But who in their right mind would?"

"Curious people? You can't be too careful these days…" The Doctor could swear that Leo shrugged as he spoke. "In any case, we'll discuss how to split the profits later. What's important is where you placed those kidneys."

"I already had them sent off when they were extracted."

"Well, we can anticipate a good payoff for each one, I can assure that."

"So now what?" asked Terri.

"Go and find new meat. There should be something since Simon informed me of it. He said that the operation is scheduled for later today. And once you've established the target's location, gather the others and brief them." replied Leo. "You, the new nurse, what's your name again?"

The Doctor cast a glance down the corridor to check if anyone had seen him, but luck was on his side in that regard. He returned to his eavesdropping, hearing a second woman speak for the first time in the conversation. "Missy…"

"Oh yeah, that's right, Missy. Go and check the records room and see if any new meat cropped up. Simon should have something for you. He has a nametag, in case you don't know who he is. Well, he has short ginger hair..." From his listening point, the Time Lord gritted his teeth in jealousy at Simon's possession of the trait his tenth and eleventh incarnations desired. Sensing that the meeting was about to conclude, the Doctor pocketed his sonic screwdriver and dashed away from the scene at the fastest speed he could muster, followed by his Snivy.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 4:25 p.m.)_

Amy paced back and forth down the length of the closet, her mind processing the latest piece of information told to her by the Doctor. "So you established that those people were up to no good with their meeting in a supply closet and mentioning of kidneys and getting money for them."

"Pretty much." said the Time Lord, as he resumed stretching his rubber band.

"Then what did you do, Doctor? Rush over to the records room?"

"Funny you should say that, Pond."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Records Room, January 15, 2011, 3:45 p.m.)_

With the time he had spent exploring the layout of the hospital, the Doctor managed to arrive at his destination in record time. The Time Lord strolled up to the window cut into the wall, ostensibly meant for the person on duty to easily pass patient records to the staff assigned to treat them. A door next to the window offered access to the records room. Sitting inside the room, a man with a short mop of ginger hair lazily and inattentively propped his head up with one head, resting his elbow on the window's ledge, a cup of steaming coffee next to him.

The Doctor turned to his Snivy. "Distract him." The Grass Snake Pokemon nodded and sped down the length of the corridor, gaining the man's brief attention as his eyes followed her movements. Carefully bending his frame down into a crouch, the Time Lord snuck himself under the window's ledge, unseen to the man inside, who was still looking at Snivy.

Reaching into a jacket pocket, the Doctor pulled out a small bottle labeled "Syrup of ipecac" and quickly reached his hand up, taking advantage of the man's distracted state to dump the contents into the coffee cup in a split second before sneaking away. A minute passed before the man shrugged with regards to Snivy, and took the cup, downing the caffeinated beverage in a large gulp. In less than 30 seconds, he found himself clutching his stomach with one hand and his mouth with the other, tearing out of the records room and down a corridor.

Snickering, the Doctor walked into the records room. _"He'll be throwing up in the restroom for a long while…"_ The Time Lord settled into the chair previously occupied by the man, noticing a patient's records folder on the desk. _"Karen Hawke. Ailment: Late stage stomach cancer. Scheduled for an operation at 5:30 p.m. today… Blimey…" _He turned to Snivy as she returned to perch on the window ledge. "Check and see if anyone is coming." The Grass Snake Pokemon was gone in a blink to comply with her Trainer's request.

The Doctor was forced from his thoughts as a woman dressed in a nurse uniform with blonde hair reaching her shoulders spoke out. "Simon? It's me, Missy. I came for the records you mentioned?" The Time Lord peered out the window as the woman stopped in front of the ledge. She scratched her head in confusion. "Simon? Wait, Leo said you had short ginger hair."

"I grew it out and dyed it." muttered the Time Lord.

"You're not in uniform, and where's your nametag?"

The Doctor stood up. "I left it at home. Now those records…"

"Okay, I know Simon is shorter than you. Leo said so." Missy crossed her arms. "Wait a minute, you're not Simon! Where is he and who are you?" Before the Time Lord could respond, he heard a noise like the sharp lash of a whip as Missy shrieked in pain, stumbling on her feet. Another lash followed as the woman fell to the floor, out of the Doctor's view. The Time Lord jumped as he heard a dull thud. Snivy leapt onto the window's ledge, dusting her hands off.

The Doctor was astounded. "What did you do?" The only response he received from his Pokemon was a smirk, prompting him to look out the window and down towards the floor. Missy lay unconscious in a sprawled heap, a box-shaped wooden magazine rack next to her head. The Time Lord frowned in disapproval. "You shouldn't have knocked her out. I had a plan to deal with her!"

Snivy shook her head, shooting her Trainer a smug look. "Vy."

The Doctor huffed. "What do you mean by 'Yeah, right!'? I _did_ have a plan!"

"Sni."

The Time Lord sighed. _"Blimey, Snivy's a lot like her ancestor..."_ "Well in any case, what's done is done. Now I have to get that nurse out of here before someone comes…"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 4:30 p.m.)_

"And after that, I went straight to Rory's room to talk to you, and here we are."

Amy raised her eyebrow as the Doctor finished speaking. "Where did you get the ipecac?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Found it in the storage space on Rory's nightstand. Why someone like him would need it, I don't know. There was some aspirin, ibuprofen, laxatives, and a bunch of other medicines there. You know, those generic things they have in store if something crops up."

"And what did you do about the nurse Snivy knocked out?"

"Oh, she's still where I put her." The Doctor allowed a devious smirk to cross his face. "Isn't she, Tepig?"

"Pig." Amy spun around in surprise to see the Fire Pig Pokemon emerge from under the rack of hospital gowns.

"Has she woken up yet?" asked the Time Lord.

Tepig shook his head. "Te. Te."

"Oh good."

Amy cast her imaginary friend a glance. "Wait, she's here? You hid her in here this whole time?"

The Doctor nodded, briefly taking his eyes off the loop of rubber. "Yep." The prompting by the Time Lord persuaded the woman to lift a few hospital gowns with her hand, immediately noticing the bound and gagged unconscious nurse. "And that brings me to my request. I need you to take her place by dressing up as a nurse and mingling with those people to find out what they're up to."

"You're really nosy, you know that, Doctor?"

The woman's question caused the Time Lord to lose his focus for a second, enough to cause his hand to fumble with his loop of rubber, the band snapping into his face. "Ow! Well, I do what I can. Now about my request…"

Amy looked hesitant. "Won't that be dangerous? What if they find out I'm not really Missy?"

The Doctor took Amy's hand, prompting her to look down and notice that he had pressed his psychic paper and Missy's nametag into her palm. "Here, take these. You'll be fine. You dressed up as a nurse before, haven't you?"

"Not a real one! Only for my old job as a kissogram **(3)**."

The Time Lord beamed with a grin that stretched from one ear to the next as he resumed playing with the rubber band, much to his companion's discomfort. "See? You have experience! Right, Tepig?"

The Fire Pig Pokemon quickly nodded to help his Trainer in persuading Amy. "Pig!"

"So did you bring your nurse uniform from that job with you?"

"No. Why should I?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Nevermind. There are plenty of them in here. Just change into one. And when you're done, head over to the records room to take the patient records those people wanted."

"What about the nurse your Snivy knocked out?"

"I'll figure out something. I doubt she come to for a while anyway."

Tepig nodded at the Time Lord's comment. "Te. Pig. Pig."

"And what will you do?" asked Amy.

The Doctor fiddled with the rubber band on his fingers. "I haven't exactly had a good look at the body those people put in the morgue, so I'll just sneak around there and see if I can find anything off. After all, they mentioned kidneys."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Records Room, January 15, 2011, 4:45 p.m.)_

Clad in a white nurse uniform, Amy gritted her teeth as she rushed to the records room, straightening her hat as it began to slide off her head. _"How on Earth did I let the Doctor talk me into this? He has one very shiny silver tongue..." _Reaching her destination, Amy peered over the window into the records room, devoid of any occupants.

Before she could figure out her next move, the woman jumped as a gruff voice shouted. "Missy? Where were you? You were supposed to come straight back to the closet we met at earlier once you got the records! It's been almost an hour!" Turning around, Amy caught sight of a man walking straight up to her, stopping to examine her frame. "Wait, you _are_ Missy, right?" Amy sighed, displaying the psychic paper for him to see. "Hmmm… Okay, I guess you are. What took you so long?" The man caught sight of Amy's red hair. "Wait, you dyed your hair? You went and dyed your hair! I know you're new and all, but this is a serious business. What if we get the operation's time wrong?" He looked into the records room's window. "And where's Simon?"

Amy narrowed her eyes, irritated by the man's attitude. "I don't know! The room was empty when I got here."

The man sighed as he stepped inside the room, taking the folder lying on the desk as he began to read it. "Ah, here are the records Simon mentioned. The operation's at 5:30 p.m. today… 5:30? We only have about 40 minutes until then!" Stepping out of the room with the folder in hand, the man shot Amy a dirty look as he stomped off. "40 minutes... I honestly can't believe it. Wait until the others hear what you've done to make us so late, Missy." Amy snarled as she followed the man, making sure to keep an arm's distance away from him.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Morgue, January 15, 2011, 4:45 p.m.)_

Rubbing his hands along the surface of his tweed jacket, the Doctor stared at the double doors leading to the hospital's morgue. Confident that the coast was clear, the Time Lord gently pushed the doors aside. If he was caught by any of the staff, a simple gaze into their eyes would hypnotize them into forgetting about his existence. It was an option he did not favor, but in the absence of his psychic paper, he saw little leeway in the matter. He fiddled with his two Pokeballs, a plan coming to fruition, remembering that Tepig still stood guard in the supply closet he vacated, keeping watch on the unconscious nurse and making sure that no one else entered it.

Stepping inside the room, the Doctor was immediately confronted by the sight of several human cadavers lying on steel tables, with drawers containing many more lining the walls. His gaze fell upon the gurney brought in hours ago by the man, the sheet still draped over its contents. Noticing a clipboard attached to the end of the apparatus, the Time Lord took it, his eyes quickly scanning over its contents. _"Patrick Leonard. Cause of Death: Terminal lung cancer. Interesting… Tracheotomy two months ago… Went into surgery three days ago to widen his stoma... Interesting…"_

Setting down the clipboard, the Doctor stretched out his arm towards the covered body, his palm glowing cobalt-blue. He gazed upon the body, his eyes now offered a clear view of its internal organs, albeit his vision was in cobalt-blue. Scanning the corpse, the Time Lord noticed a hole on its neck, offering access to the trachea. _"That's the stoma… But it doesn't look like it was expanded at all since it was first created in that operation three months ago. This is really odd."_ His hand hovering above the body, he continued downwards until he reached its abdomen. _"Why in the name of Gallifrey are his kidneys missing? Seems like they were removed three days ago when he was still alive! What have I just stumbled upon?"_

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Surgical Ward, January 15, 2011, 5:50 p.m.)_

**(Insert Music: The Oath - Anthony Neely)**

Amy shuffled uncomfortably as she observed an operation commence on the anesthetized patient, an eyebrow raised in suspicion at the questionable behavior of the people around her, with regards to the woman they were about to operate upon. "Wait, she has stomach cancer, doesn't she? Why are you turning her on her back? I don't think that's the right place to cut."

A woman chuckled. "You really don't know anything, do you, Missy?"

Amy huffed in annoyance. "And what's that supposed to mean, Terri?"

Terri snickered condescendingly. "Oh that's right, this is your first operation, so you get to sit back and watch. Just be a good girl and hand us whatever we ask, okay?" Amy clenched her fists at her sides, resisting all sudden urges to slap the woman across the face. "Now pass me the marker." Amy complied, watching as two parallel dotted lines were made on the patient's back. Another man requested a knife, which Amy hesitantly handed to him. She was forced to watch as he began to cut along the lines, blood seeping out where the blade traveled.

Amy decided to make her objections known. "Okay, I really don't think you're supposed to cut there."

The man paused briefly, his left eye twitching in irritation. "Shut up and do your job, Missy. And that job is to watch."

Amy stiffened, her discomfort hidden by the surgical mask covering her mouth and nose. Only the Doctor has ever told her to "shut up" before, and even then, it was spoken in a playful, casual manner. She was able to laugh such things off as his responses to her teasing. But now, to hear those words directed at her in such a hostile manner from a complete stranger rattled her frame. "Don't talk to me like that, Issac!"

Issac dropped the knife, a metallic thud echoing briefly throughout the room as the instrument hit the floor. He quickly bent over to pick it up, waving it threateningly in Amy's face. "Who do you think you are? Watch it. You're way out of line, lady." The woman shuddered in disgust as small drops of blood flew from the instrument's blade, splattering upon her visage. Issac simply turned his back to her, continuing to cut.

With a few of the room's occupants giving her dark looks, Amy bit down on her lips, almost on the brink of drawing blood, holding back the lashing that threatened to spew from her mouth. Instead, she settled for a simple comment. "You dropped the knife and didn't sterilize it…"

Chuck shrugged. "Who cares?" He remained silent for 15 minutes, casting a glance at Amy, as if wary that she might attempt to stop the operation. "You done yet, Issac?"

The other man nodded. "Pretty much. I see the kidneys now. Just need to sever the urethers and renal arteries. Got it!"

Before Amy knew it, she was roughly handed a pair of reddish brown fist-sized organs by Terri. "Put these in the ice box and _don't_ drop them."

Amy scoffed. "Issac dropped the knife."

"Be quiet and do as you are told, silly girl." Seething, Amy turned her back on the other woman, gently and respectfully placing the extracted kidneys in the ice box, sympathy crossing her features for the patient they were derived from. She stared down at the blood coating her gloved hands, closing her eyes in discomfort. Amy did not consider herself to be squeamish person, but being forced to participate in an illicit operation did a number on her composure and ability to focus. She jumped as Terri's voice shook her to the core. "Missy? Are you done with the kidneys? Issac already got the liver out!" Amy stood up with a start as a large organ was shoved into her hands, blood splattering on her apron, the force of the exchange causing her to stumble a few steps backwards.

Chuck grabbed the woman by the front of her apron. "If you cause any damage to the organs, I swear, you will pay dearly, girl." Amy's only response was to slap away his hand, causing him to growl. "Feisty. Someone should put her in her place."

Attempting to mask her annoyance at the group and grief for the patient, Amy huffed as she deposited the liver in the ice box. "Are we done now?"

"Fortunately for you, yes…" Chuck stopped as his Xtransceiver rang, quickly taking the call. "Huh? I see, okay. At least you're fine." Terminating the call, he addressed those present. "That was Simon. Apparently, someone dumped ipecac in his coffee. He spent three hours sick and throwing up in a restroom. Anyway, he called to inform me of another operation for tomorrow. Some guy who just transferred into this hospital. So meet at the surgical ward at 10:30 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning. "And Missy?"

"Yes?"

"Do not make life difficult for yourself and us. You chose to join us, and there's no turning back now. Do I make myself clear?"

Amy frowned. "Crystal."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 5:50 p.m.)_

His gaze set upon the bound and gagged unconscious nurse, the Doctor sat on the floor of the closet, pressing his back straight up against the wall, a hand stroking the back of his now sleeping Tepig. _"Hmmm… Looks like our nurse here still hasn't woken up yet. Now's as good a time as any, I guess." _Reaching into his backpack, the Time Lord retrieved the steel box he had taken from a protrusion built into a wall of the Nacrene Museum's vault antechamber. What had piqued his curiosity regarding the object in his hands was the fact that the protrusion it was hidden within had a perception filter layered over it, making almost everyone think that there was nothing out of the ordinary with regards to the protrusion's presence and purpose. There was little reason for anyone to do this unless they had something to hide.

The Time Lord stared at the lid of the box, tracing his fingers along the design carved into it. The center of the lid had an ornate circular design, as stretching from the top to the bottom of the circle was a figure 8 formed by two neverending lines next to each other. Within each open space of the figure 8 was a small spiral. A swirl protruded from the top left and bottom right of the figure 8, each connected to the circle's edge. The Doctor's eyes widened in recognition of the design. _"The Seal of Rassilon _**(4)**_." _The Time Lord's eyes focused on other images on the box's lid, for flanking both sides of the Seal of Rassilon were two stylized flames, each shaped like a teardrop forked into a trident of three tongues, which tapered upward to a point. But what caught the Doctor's attention the most was the image of a feather below the Seal of Rassilon, which had two letters carved within it.

ΘΣ

The Doctor slowly ran his fingers along the letters, savoring the sensation in the same manner that a blind man would with Braille. _"How eloquent…"_ Setting aside the lid, he extracted a manila folder from the box, a quick examination inside revealing several sheets of typed paper with some charring on their edges. A few small rectangular pieces of parchment could also be found, each with a symbol on their fronts and several numbers on their backs. Additionally, the Time Lord discovered a few black and white photographs. But out of the folder's contents, what held his interest the most was a white feather, identical to the one he kept in a small jewelry box stashed away within a pocket of his tweed jacket. The Doctor briefly stared at the feather before picking up the stack of charred papers, focusing on the first sheet, which ostensibly served as a cover page of sorts.

* * *

_What follows is a transcript of the meeting of the __Oubliette Squad of the __Celestial Intervention Agency on June 17. In attendance were T, L, M, O, O, M, L, I, K, F, R, and M. Note: the names of the attendees are given by the first initial of their first name, except for I, which also serves as a pronoun. Some people in attendance had the same first initial, which makes this transcript somewhat hard to follow, but no matter: The Code of the Central Intervention Agency dictates that these minutes are only to be read by those present at the meeting and the intended subjects of the discussion._

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Supply Closet, January 15, 2011, 5:55 p.m.)_

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he finished looking over the text printed on the small sheet of paper. _"Intended subjects of discussion… Without subjects, there would be no discussion! The Central Intervention Agency is full of hypocrites. They intervene in history against the non-intervention policy of the Time Lords, and say that it is illegal for me to do the same!"_ He peered at his watch, he eyes widening in alarm. _"Blimey! It's 5:55 p.m. already! I'd better get my intended business done! Why did I have to linger around in the morgue? Oh wait, I wanted to see dead bodies just to be curious. Sigh, looks like the rest of this will have to wait for later."_

The Time Lord replaced the contents of the manila folder, hastily putting it back into its box before he stood up, awakening his Tepig. "Pig?"

The Doctor stuffed the box into his backpack. "Ah, Tepig. Keep an eye on that nurse, will you? I have something to attend to, but I'll be back soon." Upon observing a nod from his Pokemon, the Time Lord exited the closet, taking care to lock it so no one would inadvertently discover what he hid inside.

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Rory's Ward, January 15, 2011, 8 p.m.)_

Standing tall, his head lowered in slight concern to face Amy, the Doctor mumbled out some words, his features looking extremely weary from the events of the day. "Are you alright, Pond?"

Out of the nurse uniform and back in her usual attire, the woman tightly grasped the sides of her skirt, her eyes squeezed shut as she sat next to the bed occupied by Rory. "No!"

"It was that bad, huh?"

"You have to ask? It was awful! I had to watch as a bunch of people cut open a woman suffering from stomach cancer to remove her liver and kidneys. And then I had to put those organs into a box for shipment!"

"Looks like those people _were_ up to no good then."

Amy huffed. "You think? Now I'm expected to go through this all over again tomorrow!"

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, one of them got a call from the records room secretary saying that an operation is scheduled next morning at 10:30 a.m. for them."

The Doctor appeared to be extremely interested, an emotion he tried to mask as he spoke, lest his words give it away. "I see."

Amy cringed, lowering her head to stare at her skirt as her eyelids squeezed themselves tighter together, as if trying to stop tears from emerging from her eyes. She spoke softly, as if it was an exhausting task to utter each word. "Please don't make me go back in there again, Doctor. It was bad enough having to be in that ward and watch someone dying, but seeing those people steal her organs for their own gain?"

The Time Lord rested a hand on his companion's shoulder, briefly gazing at the sleeping Rory. "Just trust me, Pond. Everything will be alright tomorrow. Don't worry. Just meet those people in the surgical ward as they planned, and I promise you, you won't have to worry about them again."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't have to watch someone get cut open. Did you go to the morgue to look at the dead body?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yep."

"I find that kinda disturbing, to be honest with you."

"Don't you know, Pond? In 19th century Paris, morgues used to make spectacles of the dead. Until corpses were claimed by the relevant next of kin or friends, people would spend a leisurely afternoon going in and ogling the bodies, theorizing amongst themselves what did in the poor saps. Well, the smell can be overwhelming."

"Disgusting…" muttered Amy.

"This was before television and the internet came about, so people had to occupy their time somehow."

"So did you go through one of those morgues?"

"Once or twice, just to see what the big deal was all about."

"You're too curious for your own good, you must have seen what you didn't want to see."

The Time Lord sighed. "Oh yes, there were things in there I'd rather not have seen. But trust me, I've seen plenty of death, cold and permanent death, to last me several lifetimes. I've even experienced my own death more times than I would wish. But my deaths aren't permanent, for to get there, I don't age. I regenerate. But you and the people around me are different. You're humans, and humans decay. You wither and you die. But not me. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords **(5)**. "

Amy shook her head in sympathy as she looked at the Doctor's face. Long after her and Rory's deaths, he would still be traveling through the cosmos, destined to continue living on an on. "How sad… So did you find anything?"

"I looked in the dead man's records…"

Before the Time Lord could continue, Amy cut him off. "Without getting permission…"

The Doctor cleared his throat, attempting to restate his previous sentence as if his companion had not interrupted him. "Well, I looked in the dead man's records…"

"Without getting permission…"

"Stop interrupting! So anyway, a look in the dead man's records…"

"Without getting permission…"

The Time Lord threw his arms into the air. "Alright, alright! I went in the dead man's records, _without getting permission_, and found out that he was supposed to get a tracheotomy three days before he died. But instead, when I examined the body, he had stitches in his abdomen. His kidneys were missing. And furthermore, he _isn't_ a registered donor."

"And?"

"There's no reason for his kidneys to be missing. The fellow who wheeled the body into the morgue is probably one of those people who removed them, no doubt for organ trafficking. Yes, we have stumbled upon an organ trafficking ring. The thing is, those kidneys were removed when the man was _alive_, like the woman you saw being operated on earlier."

Amy raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "How did you discover that?"

"I have my ways, Amy. I have my ways. There is a certain belief among organ traffickers and their cliental that organs extracted from living subjects are fresher and more viable than those taken from the dead. Anyone else poking around in the morgue and noticing the incisions is probably going to assume that they came from an autopsy."

The woman let out a deep sigh. "I'm thankful that Rory doesn't even think about this stuff and has a medical code of honor."

"A fascinating business, organ trafficking is. Disgusting, but fascinating all the same. Usually, we see people from improvised countries being convinced by traffickers to donate an organ, often a kidney, for a small sum, about a few thousand pounds, being told that the money will help them escape their poor lifestyle. These traffickers then sell the organs to considerably richer people who need them for many times the amount paid to the poor 'donors'. In fact, that's the reason some people travel to poor countries for medical tourism. Unfortunately for the 'donors', the money they are given isn't sufficient at all. They might wind up with diseases and complications from the operation, landing them in a deeper pit than they tried to dig themselves out of by selling their organ. It's not much better for the recipients either. As is expected for criminals, the surgery involved is frequently not up to medical standards of hygiene and professionalism. In addition to the associated side-effects of having to take immunosuppressant drugs to prevent rejection of the donor organ, they could very well wind up with diseases from the surgery. Receiving organs from 'donors' in improvised countries means that those people are more likely to be sick, and their diseases could spread to the recipient. Couple that with taking drugs to suppress the immune system and you have greater susceptibility to illness on the part of the recipient. Respectable people in the medical sector actually bother to check any organ they receive for donation, just to make sure it's healthy. After all, the purpose of organ donation is to give the recipient a new lease on life after the deliberating problem that cause the lost of function in the organ. It kinda defeats the purpose if you transplant a diseased organ into the recipient, no?"

Amy shook her head. "No one wins except for those criminals." She stood up straight. "Fine, if it means taking care of them for good, I'll go in there tomorrow. I owe it to Rory and his trade." She turned to face the Doctor. "Do I have your word that everything will be fine if I go?"

"You have my word, Pond. By the way, have you seen Katrina?"

"Her? She just went back to the Pokemon Center for the night."

"Well, it was nice of her to watch Rory while you and I were out this past week. Not that there's much else for her to do, since she isn't helping to repair the damages Team Plasma caused to the museum."

"Neither are you. But yeah, she's a good girl…"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Surgical Ward, January 16, 2011, 10:40 a.m.)_

Donning a nurse uniform once again, Amy sighed as she took a few slow, tentative steps into the surgical ward, keeping her wits about her. Before she could enter its inner sanctum, she was stopped by Chuck. "Well, Missy? Have you decided to behave after yesterday?"

The woman huffed. "Oh shut up, Chuck."

"Watch your tongue, girl, or you'll lose it one day."

Before Amy could respond, Terri called from inside the ward. "So what's this guy dying of?"

Issac shrugged, grabbing a sheet of paper from a folder on the nearby table. "No idea." His eyes scanned the sheet for a second as he scratched his head in confusion. "Found it. What the heck is 'spectrox toxaemia' **(6)**?"

Terri rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Probably one of those exotic diseases you catch in a rainforest or something. Let's just get this over with so we can go home early. "Chuck nodded, hastily ushering Amy into the ward.

The Scottish woman's eyes widened in shock and recognition as they cast their gaze upon the man who was lying silent and unmoving on the bed with a sheet covering his entire body from the neck down, the man that the people around her prepared to operate on. "Doctor?"

Chuck turned to face Amy. "Oh, you know him, Missy? Well, too bad then. It really is a pity that we have to cut into someone close to you, but let's face the facts. He's dying anyway. I think his organs can be put to greater use inside someone else's body. Anyway, since he's asleep, it's better to just administer the anesthetic now."

"You can't cut him open! That's not how you treat people!"

"What, are you trying to be a real nurse now, Missy? Haven't you forgotten that everything was forged? Your university degree, your past employment history, your medical license? You couldn't even treat anyone properly if you tried. So why bother? The payoff here is much greater than if you ever took a legitimate nursing job."

Amy gasped as the man moved to lower a mechanical arm terminating in a mask upon the Doctor's face, an arm that would deliver the anesthetic to render the Time Lord unconscious. She wrapped her hands around Chuck's waist, pulling him back. "NO! HE'S _NOT_ GOING TO DIE!"

"What's gotten into you, Missy? Let go!" Amy only responded by tightening her grip. "You gave us so much trouble in that last operation, and now you want to start your nonsense again?"

Issac sighed as he walked towards the mechanical arm. "I'll take care of this." Without letting go of Chuck's waist, Amy lashed out at the other man, delivering a clean kick on his shin. Issac howled in pain as Terri smacked Amy across the face, making her loosen her arms. She gave Amy a rough shove, pushing the woman away, sardonically chuckling as a cry escaped Amy's lips.

The Scottish woman hit the floor elbows first, wincing as her knees slammed against the hard surface, her frame curling into a rough fetal position. Before her brain could fully register the impact, Terri was crouching over her slim body, roughly grabbing her face by the chin to force her head upwards. Defiance sparked in Amy's eyes as she was made to look into the other woman's soulless orbs. Terri began to speak, her voice low and guttural. "I warn you, if you mess this up for us, I will make you suffer a fate so vile you'd wish that you hadn't defied us in the first place."

Amy tried to turn her face away to break eye contact with Terri, to no avail. "Let go of me!"

All activity in the room ceased as a loud, authoritative voice spoke. "Don't anyone move! This is a real bomb and I won't hesitate to detonate it if you step any closer! Now release Amy!" Feeling Terri's grip slacken in surprise, Amy turned to look at the bed, coming face-to-face with the Doctor, dressed in a green hospital gown and sitting up straight on the bed. In one hand, he held out a Jammie Dodger, flashing it to all present.

Issac scoffed. "That 'bomb' looks suspiciously like a cookie."

The Time Lord's eyes widened, great offense crossing his features. "Oi! It's not just any cookie, it's a Jammie Dodger!" He looked around the room, sheepishly chuckling at the awkward silence that ensured from his comment. "I…probably shouldn't have said that." With a shrug, the Doctor proceeded to devour the cookie, muttering to himself. "Why doesn't anyone fall for that? Even the Daleks weren't fooled **(7)**… But I had them for a few minutes…"

Overcoming her surprise, Terri glared at Amy. "You're not Missy, are you? This is all set-up, and you're with him. Now that you two are aware of our plans, we can't possibly let you leave here ali…"

A shout from the Doctor soon cut off the woman's words. "Hold it! I found the _real_ bomb! Don't move." In his hand, the Time Lord held a small yellow object.

Issac scoffed. "That's an Oshawott's scalchop."

The Time Lord shrugged, bending his head down towards the floor. "Hey Oshawott! They didn't fall for that either."

"Wott." The Sea Otter Pokemon leapt out from under the bed onto his Trainer's lap, delivering another round of surprise to those present.

Chuck reached a hand towards his belt. "Oh, so you want a fight, is it?"

Before the man could take a Pokeball in hand, the Doctor pointed at him. "Oshawott, Water Gun." Nodding, Oshawott released a forceful shot of water from his mouth at Chuck's face, disorienting and distracting the man before he could react. Spinning his body 360 degrees, the Sea Otter Pokemon splashed many of the people who prepared to operate on the Doctor. "Since you lot didn't fall for my bomb ruse, time for Plan B."

Before Amy could ask what "Plan B" entailed, a woman with very short light green hair burst into the ward. She was dressed in a beige blouse and skirt, with white gloves on her hands and black slip-on shoes on her feet. Atop her head was a beige hat and around her neck was a small black tie. Quickly accompanying her were several uniformed men, who did not hesitate to subdue and handcuff the room's occupants, save for the Doctor and Amy. The woman turned to the Time Lord. "Thanks for your assistance, Doctor. We've been looking for this bunch for a while, going around various hospitals in Unova to traffic human organs. Don't worry, we'll have the rest of them behind bars soon."

The Doctor nodded. "Glad to be of help, Officer Jenny. You see, Pond? I told you everything would be fine."

Amy huffed as the police officers led the criminals away. "You could have at least told me _why_ everything would be fine."

The Time Lord ignored his companion's comment, sliding out of bed and tearing off his hospital gown, revealing his full outfit underneath. "Urgh, I don't like hospitals and I don't like these stuffy gowns either. And above all, I don't like anesthetic. Almost destroyed my regenerative cycle once **(8)**. I could have died for good if that 'doctor' wasn't careful."

"So what _did_ you do?"

The Doctor shrugged as he returned the scalchop to Oshawott before recalling the Sea Otter Pokemon. "While you were with those crooks watching that woman on the operating table yesterday, I tipped off Officer Jenny and snuck a fake patient record for myself in the records room. I'm sure you know by now that the secretary there was in cahoots with the criminals. The rest was history, the secretary saw it and told his group and they couldn't resist the thought of stealing my organs. When it was time to cut me open, the police set up an ambush outside. Solved the problem quite quickly, if I do say so myself. Though I must say, my organs are certainly worth a lot more than those you can get from just any person **(9)**."

"Because 'just any person' is a human, more often than not."

"Indeed. Shall we go and check on Rory?"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, General Hospital, Corridors, January 16, 2011, 7 p.m.)_

A smile curled on his face, Rory walked down the corridors of the hospital, stopping at a wall when he found the objectives of his search. "Doctor! Amy! I've got great news! The nurse said that I could be discharged tomorrow!" He paused as he noticed his companions eyeing a wall clock, both of them staring intently at their watches. "Uh, what are you two doing?"

Before either of them could respond, the clock fell from its place on the wall, smacking Rory cleanly on the crown of his head. The nurse staggered for a second before falling flat on his back, unconscious. Amy smirked victoriously as she looked up from her watch to gaze into the Doctor's eyes. "Ha! I told you chewing gum won't hold it up! You owe me five pounds!" The Time Lord groaned as he reached into his wallet, handing the woman the requested sum of money, causing her to chuckle as she stuffed it into a pocket. "Oh relax. It's not like this would make a dent in your _vast financial reserves_, which may I remind you, are _steadily increasing_. Where on Earth do you get so much money anyway? Do you run a mint in some far off corner of the galaxy or something?" The Doctor simply looked down at his shoes in response. "Forget it if you don't want to tell me. Well, it's not like I can use this money for a while..."

The Time Lord huffed. "Oh rub it in, why don't you?"

Amy sighed as she looked down on her unconscious husband. "I just hope Rory doesn't wind up with another concussion from this..."

"I most certainly hope not. I already footed his hospital bill once."

"And the damages you incurred from throwing that remote at me?"

"That too."

Amy shrugged. "Well, after a short while, you're not even going to notice that the money's gone."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond." The Doctor quickly adopted a meditative expression. "Then again, it took Rory a week to recover from being bonked on the head by a prehistoric rock. What's a wall clock? "

"Nothing in comparison?"

"Probably. Get Rory back into his bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow since I'm having my rematch with Lenora."

The woman nodded as she propped her husband into a wheelchair and prepared to wheel him back to his room. "Are you ready for that, Doctor?"

"I most certainly think so, Amy. Tomorrow, I really am going to surprise her, and maybe, no, _definitely_ turn her strategies upside down."

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 16, 2011, 7 p.m.)_

Ghetsis smirked as he surveyed the six other occupants of the table he sat at. "You've done well, Gorm. Thanks to your supervision of the successful raid on the Nacrene Museum, both the Light Stone and the Dark Stone are now in our possession.

Gorm chuckled. "You flatter me, Ghetsis. Not that it could be accomplished without the work of our men."

"And let's not forget the Genesect fossil. With that in hand, the resurrection project can truly begin." said the third man.

"Yes, preparations for that will commence. I know a quiet place where no can interfere with the operation." replied Ghetsis. "Unfortunately, its state is inadequate. Some restoration will need to be done until we can actually do work there."

The fourth man shrugged. "We have the remains of the Black Prince's Legendary Pokemon. Why take his relics too?"

"Are they not important?" asked Gorm.

The fifth man shrugged. "It's a trivial matter now. With the Light Stone in our grasp, no one can use it to oppose us, while we work on unsealing the dragon within its counterpart."

The third man bit his lip. "Is the boy up to the task?"

Ghetsis smirked. "Oh, he will be. He will be when the time comes. The Black Prince's goal was truly glorious, and with the Legendary Pokemon he once possessed, we shall follow in his footsteps."

* * *

Author's notes: Well, this chapter is filler, but hey, I managed to get filler that is set in a hospital. No OCs in this chapter, but they will show up in the next one. This was a tough chapter to write, and I even rewrote it from the beginning after writing out half of an initial draft. I'm not sure if I did well with this chapter, so any comments and suggestions would be welcome. Many thanks to Master of the Boot fro suggesting the basic plot and some story events for this chapter. Here's the glossary.

(1) The Doctor's tenth incarnation expressed a discomfort in hospitals, commenting that they gave him "the creeps", likely due to the fact that in the Doctor Who television movie, his seventh incarnation met his end in one, taken there after being shot in the shoulder and leg from wandering into a gang shootout. While the Doctor's injuries were not fatal, confused by his circulatory system having two hearts, hospital staff performed exploratory surgery on him, ignoring his warnings not to do so. The probe used severely damaged his circulatory system, causing him to die on the operating table.

(2) While the Doctor's tenth incarnation disliked being in a hospital, he welcomed the sight of a gift shop in one, because they pointed out the exit.

(3) Before being picked up by the Doctor as a companion, Amy worked as a kissogram, a person who delivered messages to targets dictated by clients with a kiss, typically employed by clients to surprise the targets. Kissograms commonly wore costumes that matched the uniforms of various professions, including but not limited to police officer, nurse, french maid, and nun.

(4) Rassilon was perhaps the single greatest figure in Time Lord history, and the founder of their civilization and society. His seal was used as a symbol of power and authority by the Time Lords, stamped onto various items of importance to them.

(5) This is a reference to comments made by the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the episode "School Reunion", when his companion Rose Tyler confronted him about the fact that she might eventually wind up as another person that he simply travels with for a while and then leaves behind, leaving them with a sense of unfulfillment in life after having seen what he has to offer. His comments examine the torment he undergoes at being forced to continue on with life for centuries alone, while his former companions don't have to suffer such a fate.

(6) Spectrox toxaemia was a deadly illness brought on by coming into contact with unrefined spectrox, a life-extending substance found on the planet Androzani Minor. In the serial, "The Caves of Androzani", the Doctor's fifth incarnation met his end from the disease, infected along with his companion Peri Brown. He sacrificed himself to cure her with milk from a queen bat, regenerating after the disease finally killed him.

(7) In the episode "Victory of the Daleks". The Doctor materialized his TARDIS in a Dalek ship and attempted to prevent a group of Daleks from destroying Earth with a bomb planted in a humanoid robot, by brandishing a Jammie Dodger, claiming that it was the self-destruct button for the TARDIS. The ruse worked for a few minutes before the Daleks saw through it, ordering the Doctor to leave or they will activate the bomb. They cruelly do so anyway after he complies with their requests, forcing him to diffuse the bomb in order to save the robot and Earth.

(8) Hospital staff placed the Doctor's seventh incarnation under anasthetic so they could perform the explorative surgery on him. This interfered with his regenerative cycle and prevented him for regenerating for hours after he died, with the Doctor's eighth incarnation later commenting that the anasthetic could have wound up killing him permanently.

(9) With the Doctor being the only remaining Time Lord, his body is highly valued among other races, with many willing to go to war over a single cell.

I am still taking OCs until Nimbasa City, so send them in. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.


	29. Showing the Knowledge One Has Obtained!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." _– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 29: Showing the Knowledge One Has Obtained!**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Battlefield, January 17, 2011, 10:25 a.m.)_

Standing from her spot on the battlefield of the Nacrene Gym, Lenora surveyed her challenger calmly, his face calm and still. "Are you ready, Doctor? I trust that you put in quite the effort in your training for the last week."

The Doctor shrugged as his eyes shifted briefly to stare at the sidelines, where an assortment of people served as his audience. His eyes made out the forms of Rory, Amy, Katrina, Szac, Daniel, Nicolas, Sophie, Skylar, Adam, Professor Juniper, and Fennel. "I could ask you the same question, Lenora."

"I like your wit. Sharp and fast cutting like a knife."

"That doesn't need to be restated, I don't believe."

Lenora smiled. "No, I believe I made my point clear enough. In any case, I must thank you once again for helping the museum deal with Team Plasma. Although we lost some priceless artifacts, the damage shouldn't take too long to repair. Your speech was definitely unusual, but hey, it did help get the job done. Some of the Plasma grunts seemed _afraid_ when they heard it."

"I do what I can. But yes, they should be afraid. After all, I'm the Doctor."

"My, the Doctor seems to be in high spirits today." said Fennel.

Daniel shrugged. "Well, he does deserve a good chunk of the credit. And look at him, he's about to get his rematch."

Szac crossed his arms. "So the Doctor deserves credit, and we don't?"

"That's not what I meant. Of course you deserve credit. I said that before while you were helping to repair the damage, didn't I? I just haven't given the Doctor any yet."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Don't credit him too much, it'll go to his head."

The Doctor quickly spun his head to stare at his companion. "I heard that, Pond!"

The woman gave the Time Lord a smug smirk. "Good. I knew you would."

Rory sighed. "Don't give him too much grief, Amy. He's going to have a gym battle."

"Did you suffer too much from that clock, Rory?" asked Amy.

"If it helped you win five pounds, I guess not. You got a leg-up over the Doctor, eh?"

"Mmmm… I guess you could say that. Wait, I haven't thanked you yet, have I?" Without another word, Amy leaned in and pressed her lips against her husband's left cheek, ruffling his hair slightly with a hand.

Katrina smiled at the public display of affection. "Awww… That's so sweet."

The Doctor sighed deeply. "Alright, you two! Stop working me up!"

Lenora chuckled. "Your assistants are an affectionate and interesting couple, Doctor."

"I most certainly hope so. That's one expectation I have from people who travel with me. Too bad about the museum though, I can tell that there's still quite a bit of work to be done."

"Team Plasma is to blame for that, them and Zekrom. By the way, did you hear on the news? Zekrom attacked a night market in Nimbasa City yesterday night."

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? That's the first sighting in what, eight days?"

"Exactly. Eight days since Zekrom attacked the museum. We're still trying to clean some of those electrical burns off the building's façade, but unfortunately, they don't seem to want to come off. Anyway, seven Trainers and their Pokemon went missing in Nimbasa City. I'm just glad no one went missing here."

"The last time people disappeared during a Zekrom attack was what, in Undella Town eleven days ago?"

"Ah yes, that's right. As researchers, we have to keep on top of these things, you know? Just in case those missing Trainers are somehow connected to Zekrom's attacks. Speaking of Team Plasma and Zekrom, it's good to know that Rory made a relatively full recovery from that concussion of his."

"After what happened yesterday night, I was afraid that he would suffer a relapse."

Lenora chuckled, her tone of voice sounding not too sympathetic, eliciting a smirk from Amy. "Oh yes, my condolences on that bet too."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Very _funny_."

"In any case, it was nice of you to let Nicolas, Sophie, and Skylar watch your battle."

"I think they should get a break, no? They've been working on the repair work for the past week, if I'm not wrong. Besides, I want them, as well as everyone else in this room, to see how I deal with your Roar and Mean Look combo. I know you're still using them, Don George told me."

"And he would be right."

Sophie frowned. "Oh, he just wants us to watch so he can show off? If I recall, I won my battle the first time and he lost his."

Professor Juniper clapped her assistant on the shoulder. "Be polite, Sophie. I think you could learn a thing or two from this man."

"Yes, after all, it's because of the Doctor that you got some time off, time that I bet you were dying to get." added Nicolas.

Sophie sighed. "Why are you all on his side?"

"I'm not. Well, not that much." muttered Szac.

Nicolas rolled his eyes. "Because you're as lazy, if not lazier than Sophie?"

"What's wrong with napping during a break?"

"What's wrong is that you didn't wake up afterwards."

Szac huffed. "Yes, I did!"

"Yeah, you did. But after how many hours?"

"I don't remember."

"My point exactly."

Professor Juniper spoke before an argument broke out. "Technically, Szac is just a volunteer, so he's just being nice by offering his services to the museum."

Nicolas sighed. "Well, it's still irresponsible to volunteer for something and sleep while you're supposed to help out, because you said you would. At least Sophie didn't sleep."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not, since it's coming at someone else's expense." muttered Sophie.

Fennel sighed. "Probably not."

Szac nodded. "I agree with her."

"Only because you're the one being hung out to dry?" asked Skylar.

Szac chuckled sheepishly. "Partly."

Sophie chuckled. "Alright, alright. I'll lay off, because you're you."

The Doctor's eyes twitched in irritation as he shouted out without turning to face his audience, his voice reverberating on all surfaces of the underground room. "EXCELLENT! NOW WILL YOU LOT JUST SHUT UP?"

Professor Juniper shook her head. "Oh dear, let's not give the Doctor too much trouble or distractions today, okay? He must have worked hard to prepare for this rematch."

Daniel cupped his chin, cringing slightly at the Doctor's outburst. "Well, he's certainly volatile."

"Well, if those kids didn't squabble, that wouldn't have happened." replied Adam in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well said, Spencer."

Sophie huffed. "Who are you calling a kid? If I recall correctly, you're the same age as me, Spencer." Adam simply smirked.

"Don't get worked up, Sophie. You're just confirming what he said." replied Szac. Sophie sighed, unable to find an appropriate spoken response.

Nicolas nodded. "Yes, it's best if you just leave Spencer be. You know how he gets around others."

Katrina trembled slightly, gripping Amy's arm for support. "The D-Doctor s-sounded scary-y just n-now. H-How do you p-put u-up with h-him-m?"

Amy sighed. "He's not like that, most of the time. He's just under some stress right now."

Lenora scratched her head. "Odd, where's Hawes? He's supposed to be here by now to referee the battle." The gym leader shrugged. "Oh well, might as well make some small talk while we wait."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, the museum had the remains of two Legendary Pokemon and both were stolen. Any idea what Team Plasma wants with them?"

"No doubt to unseal them. Genesect's fossil could theoretically be resurrected, but considering how destructive and violent it is, not to mention the fact that we only ever found one fossil, we never actually planned on trying it. It's possible to accidentally damage the DNA in fossils when trying to revive them, which invariably destroys the fossil and wastes a good amount of hard work. Plus, the DNA is lost, so you can't study it. The risk is just too great with trying on Genesect. Team Plasma might be gutsier, I don't know. I only shudder at what Team Plasma plans on doing with the Light Stone. I'm not too sure how to unseal it, but my guess is that Team Plasma simply wants to keep it from us to avoid any chance of opposition. After all, Zekrom is apparently siding with them and the White Prince's dragon is its counterpart and rival."

The Time Lord scoffed. "Oh, don't worry about the Light Stone you had, it's _not that valuable_."

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "Why does the Doctor keep saying that the Light Stone isn't valuable?"

Amy shrugged. "I'll tell you why. He's weird."

The Doctor beamed. "Thank you for the compliment, Pond."

The woman huffed. "That wasn't a compliment!"

Daniel scratched his head. "The Doctor is one strange fellow." Amy groaned, her palm making contact with her forehead, a loud smack punctuating the encounter. "I just gave him another compliment, didn't I?"

Before Daniel could receive a response, the gym leader's mouth dropped open as she faced her challenger. "How could you say that, Doctor? The Light Stone is an important piece of Unova's history! It's the core of Reshi-"

Before Lenora could finish, a man's voice drew everyone's attention. "I'm here, I'm here, don't start the battle without me!" Entering the subterranean chamber through its secret passageway, Hawes dashed across the battlefield, his foot catching on an uneven surface, causing him to trip and fall ungracefully on his front, his glasses falling off his face.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Smooth…"

Watching her husband pick up his glasses and recompose himself, the gym leader narrowed her eyes at the Doctor's face, her focus zeroing in on a specific spot. "Before we begin, what happened to your face, Doctor?" Plainly visible on the Time Lord's left cheek, in contrast to his usual pale skin, was a large, bright red ovular mark that encompassed nearly the entirety of the surface area on the cheek it occupied, one that appeared to be slightly swollen and fresh.

Attempting to ignore the stinging sensation coming from the red mark, the Time Lord narrowed his eyes as he heard Amy snicker from the sidelines, snickering that was evidently reserved for his current bout of misfortune. "_Shut up_, Pond."

Katrina bit her lip in slight discomfort at the woman's behavior. "Uh, I don't think it's nice to laugh at the Doctor, Amy. Not when he's like that."

The woman bit her lip, making a slight attempt to suppress some of her laughter. "But it's just so funny and unbelievable how he got that mark on his face."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Pokemon Center, The Doctor's Bathroom, January 17, 2011, 9:30 a.m.)_

Having just gotten dressed, the Doctor stood in front of the bathroom sink, surveying his face in the mirror, patting his cheeks gently. _"Blimey, two days without shaving and I'm getting stubble. Sigh…" _Eyeing the backpack at his feet, the Time Lord extracted an ivory-white bladed claymore from its front pocket, holding the sword's blade near his cheek. _"Okay, you don't need to be a genius to figure out that using a claymore to shave is too extreme."_ Sighing, the Doctor replaced the claymore in his backpack._ "It'll take too long to get out the razor and I can't be late for my rematch. Oh well…" _

Turning his hands so his palms faced upward, the Time Lord took a deep breath as a cobalt-blue sphere of energy materialized slightly above each palm. Another breath caused the two spheres to grow slightly larger, before they burst into red-and-orange flames. Taking a second to gaze at both of his hands cloaked in fire, the Doctor brought them up towards his cheeks, taking a few breath exercises to maintain his focus as his hands neared his visage.

His focus was soon broken as he heard pounding on the door, Amy's voice ringing from the other side. "Doctor? What are you doing in there? Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

The Time Lord's frame jolted up in surprise, inadvertently bringing his flaming left hand to rest directly on the bristled skin of his cheek, his scream of pain and anguish nearly causing Amy's head to collide with the ceiling from the height she jumped upon hearing it. "YYYYEEEEOOOOOWWWWW!"

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Gym, Battlefield, January 17, 2011, 11:05 a.m.)_

Skylar raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "He burned his face while shaving?"

Professor Juniper nodded in sympathy. "The poor man, he must have been in quite a rush."

"Do you know what he was doing in the bathroom?" asked Skylar.

Rory shrugged. "Nope, and he wouldn't tell us anyway. He just came out with that mark and said…"

The Doctor closed his eyes, interrupting the nurse as he spoke. "I burned myself while I was shaving. 'Nuff said."

"I wouldn't recommend trying that again if I was you, Doctor." muttered Hawes.

The Time Lord huffed. "Oh, what do you know?"

Lenora unclipped two Pokeballs from her belt, tossing them with a flourish. "Anyway, I'll be using these two Pokemon for today's battle. Let's go!" The red-and-white spheres opened to reveal the gym leaders Herdier and Watchog.

Daniel nodded. "Looks like Lenora plans on using the same Pokemon as last time." He turned to Rory and Amy. "So, any idea what the Doctor is planning to do in this battle?"

Amy shrugged. "He didn't say, but what he did mention is that he'll turn Lenora's Roar and Mean Look combo upside down."

"A lot of challengers have certainly tried."

The Doctor held up two of his own Pokeballs, staring down at them. "I'll be counting on the two of you."

Hawes cleared his throat as he walked up to the outer edge of the battlefield's center. "The Nacrene City Gym battle between the Doctor, the challenger, can't get over how hard that was to say…, and Lenora the gym leader is about to begin. Each side may use two Pokemon. The battle is over when both Pokemon on either side is unable to battle. Additionally, both Trainers may switch Pokemon at any time."

Lenora held out a Pokeball, sending back her Lookout Pokemon. "Watchog, return. Herdier, you're up now." The Loyal Dog Pokemon nodded as it pranced onto the battlefield. The Time Lord responded by silently tossing one of his Pokeballs, clipping the other to his belt. The tossed Pokeball opened, revealing the Doctor's Oshawott.

Hawes crossed his arms across his chest before spreading them outwards to commence the battle. "The challenger has the first move! And now, battle begin!"

The Doctor: 1

Lenora: 2

The Doctor eyed Lenora from across the room. "Since I have the first move, let's just cut to the chase, shall we? Oshawott, Razor Shell." Detaching the scalchop on his chest, the Sea Otter Pokemon elongated a sword-shaped pillar of water from its rimmed edge, charging on foot towards his opponent with a shout akin to a war cry.

Lenora was quick to respond. "Intercept that Razor Shell with Shadow Ball!" Steeling its focus toward Oshawott's head, the Loyal Dog Pokemon fired off a black and purple ball of energy from its mouth, an attack which speedily darted towards its intended target.

"Knock it away!" Swinging his scalchop wielding arm back, Oshawott brought the weapon's pillar of water to make contact with the incoming Shadow Ball, slicing it cleanly in two perfect halves, breathing a sigh of relief as one whizzed harmlessly over the top of his cranium. However, the Sea Otter Pokemon miscalculated on the level of the initial attack's bottom half, believing it to be lower than in actuality, and consequently failing to duck in time, causing the Shadow Ball half to smash into his face, dealing damage and minor disorientation. The pillar of water on the scalchop disappeared as the appendage almost slipped from its holder's grasp.

The gym leader's tone of voice belied a sense of urgency. "Now while Oshawott is distracted, use Roar!

The Time Lord rolled his eyes, letting out a weary groan. "Oh, this again. Oshawott, shut Herdier up with Water Gun, will you?" As the Loyal Dog Pokemon opened its mouth to launch a move that would surely send its opponent back to his Pokeball, Oshawott tossed his scalchop forward, following it with a forceful surge of water from his own mouth. The water-type attack struck the back of the scalchop, pushing it forward at a breakneck speed to lodge itself into Herdier's oral cavity, forcing the Loyal Dog Pokemon to step back once due to both the surprise and the force of the Water Gun.

"HERDIER!" A glimpse at Herdier's head told spectators that Oshawott's scalchop had lodged itself behind the Loyal Dog Pokemon's fangs, forcing apart its jaws. This perilous position meant that Herdier could not easily spit out the offending foreign object.

Skyler shook her head. "This is bad for Lenora. That scalchop in its mouth means that it can't use Roar and Bite. If it uses Take Down, the force of its body striking another surface may very well send that scalchop down its throat. You don't need to be a researcher to see that the potential choking hazard can't be extracted easily once in the throat, and could very well choke Herdier to death."

Katrina looked on in concern for the Loyal Dog Pokemon. "So is there any way for Herdier to remove it?"

"Herdier can try to use Shadow Ball and hope that the attack propels the scalchop out of its mouth, but if the attack isn't strong and large enough, it won't be able to escape and will go off inside Herdier's body, causing a great deal of damage to itself, making this a risky proposition."

"Can't she just switch Herdier out? That would deprive Oshawott of his scalchop, right?"

Rory nodded. "Yes, but Oshawott has demonstrated that he doesn't need the scalchop all the time to fight effectively, so I don't think it's a big issue. The Doctor may even be hoping that Lenora does this, knowing that one of her Pokemon is incapacitated."

Professor Juniper beamed. "Not bad, I see that you're catching on to how Pokemon battle, Rory."

Nicolas shrugged. "In any case, if Lenora recalls Herdier, it will still have that scalchop in its mouth when it has to go out on the battlefield again. That's an effective play on the Doctor's part, though rather sadistic, if I may add, since it takes away so many of Lenora and Herdier's options."

The Doctor pointed at Herdier. "Oshawott, Use Water Gun." With a nod, the Sea Otter Pokemon launched a forceful shot of water from its mouth aimed straight at the Loyal Dog Pokemon.

"Herdier, dodge it!" Deciding to abandon its attempts at extracting Oshawott's scalchop from now, Herdier leapt up, causing the Water Gun to strike the ground it once occupied.

Fennel watched the battle intently. "Looks like the Doctor has Lenora going on the defensive now."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Tackle!"

Sweat began to bead on Lenora's brow. "Get away from Oshawott, Herdier!" Taking advantage of the fact that his opponent was still sky bound, the Sea Otter Pokemon raced forward. Unable to comply with his Trainer's command due to his current downward approach towards the floor, Herdier was forced to land just as Oshawott slammed into its frame, knocking the wind out of the Loyal Dog Pokemon before dashing off to put a safe distance from his opponent. Getting a breath to recompose itself was a feat that Herdier found difficult to achieve, courtesy of the foreign object in its mouth.

"Looks like a battle isn't without its risks. Use Take Down!"

"Water Gun!" Fast on its paws, Herdier surged towards its quarry just as Oshawott fired off his attack. The stream of water pelted the front of the Loyal Dog Pokemon's frame, but it persevered, successfully making full body contact with the Sea Otter Pokemon, its jaws clenched down on the scalchop to keep it in place. Herdier winced as the sharp edges of the weapon cut into the soft flesh of its jaws and palate, but it was the only way to keep the scalchop from accidentally sliding into its throat. Crimson blood from the Loyal Dog Pokemon's mouth ran down the smooth surface of Oshawott's scalchop. The Time Lord shrugged as he saw his Pokemon being pushed down the battlefield by Herdier, his casual tone of voice instilling uneasiness in everyone present. "Hmmm… No biggie. Oshawott, slide under Herdier." The Sea Otter Pokemon complied, slipping his small frame in the space framed by his opponent's legs, severely impeding the Loyal Dog Pokemon's movement. Widely known for its speed, Lenora's Herdier now found it hard to live up to the reputation at this point in time.

"What is he up to?"

"Water Gun, Oshawott!" The Sea Otter Pokemon complied, firing off a stream of water at the Loyal Dog Pokemon's forelegs, trying to trip it up, but Herdier held firm. The confined space Oshawott was in did not allow the water to escape easily however, and the attack smashed itself against the Loyal Dog Pokemon's forelegs before backing around to engulf the Sea Otter Pokemon's body, shaping itself into the form of a comet, its head encapsulating its progenitor. Herdier found itself propelled involuntarily forward like a rocket before it was thrown off the comet of water from the force underneath it, rolling a meter down the battlefield to settle in a heap.

Szac's eyes widened. "That's Aqua Jet!"

Rory cupped his chin. "Oshawott learned a new move then…"

Fennel nodded. "Interesting. The first time the Doctor battled Lenora, his Snivy learned Mega Drain."

The Doctor pointed at the Herdier struggling to get back on its feet. "Oshawott, Herdier's behind you!" From his position within the comet-shaped water spout, the Sea Otter Pokemon turned around, headed for his quarry.

Lenora frowned. "Learning a new move won't necessarily help Oshawott. Herdier, it's now or never! Try and dislodge that scalchop in your mouth with Shadow Ball!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon nodded as it took a deep breath to steel itself. With a large output of power, it lauched a black and purple sphere of energy directly at its opponent, successfully catapulting the scalchop from its mouth at the same time. Oshawott's weapon attached to it, Herdier's Shadow Ball struck the head of the approaching Aqua Jet, causing the water-type attack to disperse into droplets which landed far and wide across the room. Deprived of his source of propulsion, Oshawott fell to the floor, sliding painfully on his stomach across the rough surface, coming to rest in front of Herdier. "You've done a good job of postponing it, Doctor, but I think it's time now. Herdier, use Roar!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon opened its mouth, dribbling out a few drops of blood as it let out a loud howl, the accompanying waves of piercing sound forcing the battle's observers to cover their ears. Strangely, Oshawott did not budge as he was expected to.

The Time Lord shook his head, his lips curled into a smug smirk. "You've put yourself in a real spot, Lenora. Oshawott, your scalchop's right next to you. Use Razor Shell!" Turning his head slightly, the Sea Otter Pokemon noticed and picked up the desired object as he sprung up, a pillar of water forming from it. Without hesitation, Oshawott smacked Herdier across its front legs, causing it to fall, slamming it chin on the hard, stony ground.

Lenora narrowed her eyes. "How was Oshawott not sent back by Herdier's Roar?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Oshawott is the only Pokemon I have on my team at the moment. I deposited the others. Roar doesn't work at all if the opponent doesn't have any other Pokemon that can be switched into battle."

"But you held up two Pokeballs at the start of the battle. So the other one is…"

The Time Lord unclipped a Pokeball from his belt and opened it, arrogance crossing his face. "…empty. You thought I had at least two Pokemon with me, leading you to attempt your Roar and Mean Look combo. Well, because of this, that strategy is useless against me. Joke's on you, Lenora."

Hawes scratched his head. "Well, there's nothing in the rules that says the challenger can't use fewer Pokemon than he is allowed. It's just his decision."

"The Doctor put himself at a disadvantage so Lenora can't use her strategy." muttered Katrina.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Trust him to do something like that to show off."

Daniel nodded. "A high risk strategy with a potentially big reward. There's always an impact, even slight, when you mess with someone's plan like that. Normally, if the forced switch was successful, Lenora would switch in her Watchog and use Mean Look to make the challenger stick with his second Pokemon. Now, she might be at a lost to find options. I've never seen a challenger do what the Doctor just did."

"It's the sort of thing the Doctor would do." said Rory. "So that's what he meant when he said that he would turn Lenora's strategy upside down."

Professor Juniper stared at the battlefield. "Herdier may be tired now, but do remember that Lenora hasn't used her Watchog yet. Oshawott has already taken some damage, and will have to knock out both of Lenora's Pokemon for the Doctor to win."

Sophie sighed. "Oh gee, if the Doctor wins this, it would be quite embarrassing for Lenora. But if he loses, than it'll be embarrassing for him."

The gym leader gritted his teeth, realizing that her challenger had been leading her on up to this point. His avoidance of her Herdier's first attempt at Roar made her believe that he really wanted to keep Oshawott on the battlefield, all the better for her since she was trying to force a switch out. She thought his seeming weariness was evidence of her strategy's potential to thwart his own plans, increasing her eagerness to ruin them with Roar. And now by using that move to no effect, Herdier left itself a sitting duck to its opponent's next attack. It was then Lenora realized that the Doctor did not care if Roar succeeded the first time or not. Her strategy was ineffective the whole time, practical mockery on the Doctor's part. This man lulled her into a false sense of security by providing the thought that her typical combo fazed him, only to brutally crush said security when she tried to execute it. Perhaps this was his way of punishing her for all the times she made previous challengers switch their Pokemon out for a less than ideal choice against her chosen battler. Now, she found herself at a slight lost for what to do next. By now, she usually would have sent out her Watchog and used Mean Look. There was little point in doing so now. The Doctor had one Pokemon. She had two. In nullifying her strategy, he gave her an advantage, and she intended on exploiting it.

The Doctor whistled as he saw his Oshawott stand in front of the downed Herdier. "Oshawott, Aqua Jet."

Lenora bit her lip. "Take Down!" The Sea Otter Pokemon engulfed himself in a spiraling water spout, shooting forward like a rocket just as the Loyal Dog Pokemon stood up, paws prancing the ground as it ran forward. Both Pokemon slammed into each other in a head-on collision that remained deadlocked for a few seconds before Herdier found itself being pushed backwards by Oshawott's Aqua Jet. "Don't give in, Herdier!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon dug its paws into the surface of the battlefield, managing to keep its opponent from obtaining any further headway.

"Since Herdier is insisting on being such an anchor… Stop the attack, Oshawott." The Sea Otter Pokemon complied, dispersing the water spout. With the quick letup of Oshawott's attack, Herdier found itself falling on its rear end due to the sudden disappearance of a challenging force it had tried to stand up to.

"Herider, Bite!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon lunged at its opponent, prepared to sink its fangs into Oshawott's arm.

The Time Lord rolled his eyes. "How annoying. Oshawott, cut Herdier down with Razor Shell!" Before his opponent could reach him, the Sea Otter Pokemon detached his scalchop from his chest, hastily elongating a pillar of water from it to slash Herdier across the face, knocking it backwards. Running after his opponent in pursuit, Oshawott soon reached Herdier, spread-eagled face down on the battlefield. He raised the scalchop, prepared to deliver another blow to his opponent's cranium for good measure, but found that Loyal Dog Pokemon unmoving with swirly eyes.

Hawes raised his arm at the Doctor. "Herdier is unable to battle, and Oshawott wins."

Skylar nodded. "I'm guessing the recoil damage Herdier took from its last Take Down is what did it in. Now Oshawott will have to handle Watchog as well, and it surely must be weary."

Amy shrugged. "Maybe, but the Doctor told me a few days ago that he noticed was gaining more stamina. I guess he's counting on that to make up for the fact that he's using one less Pokemon than he could."

The Doctor: 1

Lenora: 1

Lenora sighed, holding out a Pokeball to return her unconscious Herdier. "Herdier, return. Take a good rest, old friend." She quickly directed her gaze to her challenger. "I must say, Doctor, you surprised me with only that Oshawott of yours, and him learning a new move to boot. I can tell that the training's paying off. I hope that you made that right choice in only using one Pokemon, because I'm not going to ease up for a second."

The Doctor chuckled. "Why, I'd be disappointed if you did."

The gym leader tossed her second Pokeball to send out her Watchog. "Very well then. Watchog, it's your turn now!"

"I'll stick with Oshawott, since I have no other choice. At least there's no point in Watchog using Mean Look. Water Gun!" The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded, sending out a stream of water from his mouth towards his opponent.

"Dodge it!" The Lookout Pokemon casually sidestepped to the left, the attack harmlessly passing the space it once occupied. Now use Crunch, Watchog!"

"Water Gun, like I taught you at the Battle Club!" As Watchog charge at Oshawott with its jaws agape, the Sea Otter Pokemon detached his scalchop from his chest, tossing it to the ground in front of his opponent's feet. The Lookout Pokemon's left foot stepping on the rear, concave side of his weapon was Oshawott's cue to fire another Water Gun, this one aimed down towards the battlefield. With pressure put upon it by Watchog and contact with the water on its front, convex side, the scalchop slid forward, causing the Lookout Pokemon to slip with a shriek of surprise, ungracefully landing on its back.

Katrina's eyes widened. "That was certainly creative of the Doctor."

"Yep, he's really finding unusual ways to use that scalchop." replied Nicolas.

The Time Lord clicked his fingers. "Oshawott, Aqua Jet." The Sea Otter Pokemon complied, launching himself in a water spout towards the Lookout Pokemon.

Lenora pointed at the approaching Oshawott. "Watchog, Confuse Ray!" Still sprawled on the ground with its eyes glowing purple, Watchog lifted its head to gaze at the front end of the comet-shaped attack. The Aqua Jet veering off course and smashing into the battlefield a meter away from its intended target was proof enough that Oshawott was sufficiently confused. "Now follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Yellow electricity cackling across its frame, the Lookout Pokemon fired off a beam at its opponent.

"Aqua Jet!" The Sea Otter Pokemon quickly engulfed himself in another spout of water, shooting up and away from the approaching Thunderbolt. It did not matter to the Doctor if the water-type attack missed, so long as his Pokemon avoided the super effective move from Watchog. Before he could consider his next move, the water spout veered around and back, slamming into the Lookout Pokemon's rear just as it was getting up, nearly knocking it off its feet again. "Well, that was a surprise."

"Watchog, use Thunderbolt again!"

"Your scalchop's right there, Oshawott!" Turning around, the Lookout Pokemon shot a yellow beam down at its opponent, just as the Sea Otter Pokemon scooped up his weapon and held the scalchop over his face. The attack struck Oshawott's scalchop, slightly reducing the damage he took.

Sophie nodded. "The Doctor's going into 'damage avoidance mode' now."

"Makes sense, since he only has Oshawott to carry him through this battle." replied Skylar.

The Doctor smirked as he noticed the stars disappear from Oshawott's eyes, an indicator that the Sea Otter Pokemon's confusion was cured. "Now use Razor Shell!" Taking advantage of the fact that he was lying on the ground with his opponent towering above him, Oshawott struck, smacking the pillar of water across the Lookout Pokemon's chest, causing it to bend forward slightly.

"Thunderbolt needs a second or two to charge… Use Crunch!" Jaws agape, Watchog darted its head down toward the Sea Otter Pokemon.

"Shove your scalchop in Watchog's mouth!" The Sea Otter Pokemon complied, raising his scalchop wielding arm and jamming the appendage into his opponent's oral cavity. The Lookout Pokemon now found itself in much the same position as Lenora's Herdier, a foreign object providing an obstruction it could not easily expel by spitting it out. "You have a strategy, Lenora? Well, this is mine. Aqua Jet!" Before his opponent could regain its composure, Oshawott lunged at it, enveloping himself in water in the process, slamming into Watchog's stomach and speeding forward down the battlefield. The Lookout Pokemon winced, feeling the balls of its feet being dragged along the hard floor.

Lenora's face belied desperation. "Thunderbolt!" Watchog hastily electrified its body, transferring the charge into Oshawott's attack, the water an ideal conductor.

"Stay strong, Oshawott! Keep up the attack!" The Aqua Jet continued to push its unwilling target ahead, eventually slamming the Lookout Pokemon's back into a hard wall, the impact causing the scalchop to fly from Watchog's mouth.

"Crunch!" The Lookout Pokemon bent down and sank its fangs into Oshawott's head, causing him to wince.

"Use Water Gun, Oshawott!" The Sea Otter Pokemon shot off a stream of water directly into his opponent's stomach, launching himself a short distance away from Watchog, taking the time to retrieve his scalchop in the process.

"Use Confuse Ray, Watchog!"

"Dodge it!" As the Lookout Pokemon's eyes adopted a purple sheen, the Sea Otter Pokemon averted its gaze, quickly turning his back to Watchog.

"You shouldn't leave Oshawott's back exposed like that, Doctor. Watchog, Thunderbolt!" The Lookout Pokemon charged and fired off a yellow beam of electricity from its body towards Oshawott's back.

"Behind you, Oshawott!" The Sea Otter Pokemon spun around in time to get struck by his opponent's attack, shrieking in pain. "Use Aqua Jet!" Quickly shooting into the air with a water spout to cover his frame, Oshawott managed to avoid more damage from his opponent's attack, as he veered downwards toward Watchog.

"Watchog, try and dodge that Aqua Jet!" Ceasing its Thunderbolt, the Lookout Pokemon attempted to run, despite the superior speed of its opponent traveling towards it like a rocket. Needless to say, Watchog made little leeway in its quest to escape before the Sea Otter Pokemon barreled hard into its back. The Lookout Pokemon shrieked as it was knocked to the ground, its legs bending under the pressure brought down upon the top half of its frame from the water-type attack, allowing the Oshawott to come to a full stop on Watchog's back. "Follow it up with Razor Shell!" Standing on his opponent's back, the Sea Otter Pokemon detached his scalchop, elongating a sword-shaped pillar of water from it and slamming it down on the Lookout Pokemon's back. Watchog let out an ear piercing shriek of pain before a punctuated silence permeated the room.

The Doctor: 1

Lenora: 0

Hawes gazed upon the Lookout Pokemon's visage, his experience in refereeing battles telling him all that he needed to know. "Watchog is unable to battle, Oshawott wins. And so the winner of this battle is the challenger, the Doctor!" The Doctor closed his eyes as he walked forward to collect his Oshawott. Soon reaching the Sea Otter Pokemon, he scooped Oshawott off the Lookout Pokemon's back and into his arms, both Trainer and Pokemon's faces breaking out into a shared smile. Before either could further relish the victory, the Sea Otter Pokemon let out a yawn, closing his eyes and falling asleep into his Trainer's arms.

Silent throughout the battle, Adam narrowed his eyes as he saw the Sea Otter Pokemon defeat Lenora's Watchog. The Oshawott that he had once subjected to torment in dark spaces was now becoming stronger under the Doctor's tutelage. That man was part of the reason his colleagues at Team Plasma were scared off from the museum a week ago. Chats with them confirmed to him that they were truly intimidated when the Doctor delivered his speech over the auditorium's speakers. Adam frowned, while he had heard the Doctor's words, they did not particularly faze him, and he considered his colleagues to be wimps. After all, it was not as if the Doctor was a Legendary Pokemon out for blood. But after watching the Doctor battle, Adam could see that the unassuming man had a good deal of power hidden within him, and could bring it out in others, such as Oshawott. All that stamina and tactic improvisation from a week's worth of training.

The Doctor had a nasty tendency to empower others, make them surpass their limitations, and bring out their inner strength. Such were traits that Adam, and by extension the whole of Team Plasma, found bothersome, for they impeded the organization's ability to instill negativity in people, make them think that their way of handling Pokemon is wrong, an integral part of Team Plasma's mission to drive a rift between mankind and Pokemon. For the trust Oshawott was showing in the Doctor only meant that he trusted his Trainer and was happy to be under the Doctor's leadership, a contravention of the propaganda Ghetsis tries to disseminate, citing Pokemon being trained by humans were unhappy to be in such positions. Adam bristled as he attempted to figure out how best to deal with the Doctor. The man had already survived an attempt to poison him with cyanide, cementing him as an individual that would be tough to get rid of.

Lenora smiled as she recalled her unconscious Watchog. "Watchog, return. You fought well, and now, take a good rest to recover." She signaled to Hawes, who walked over with a blue hexagonal container, a Basic Badge inside. Taking the container from her husband, Lenora paced over to her challenger, who was still cradling his sleeping Oshawott. "Doctor, no one has ever battled me the way you have before, just to counter my Roar and Mean Look combo. That was a risky decision to go in with only one Pokemon, and I believe that it shows how seriously you took that strategy of mine. Despite having an advantage, I have to admit, you had me struggling like crazy to keep up with you throughout the battle. The training you undertook with your Pokemon really paid off, and my assumptions about you were right all along. I'm proud to award you with the Basic Badge."

The Doctor took the badge with a noble nod. "Thank you, Lenora. You gave me one interesting battle that I'll be sure to remember."

"Best of luck on all your future challenges, Doctor."

Katrina relaxed from her place on the sidelines as she watched the Time Lord recall his Oshawott and insert the badge into his badge case. "Oh boy, the Doctor managed to win with only one Pokemon."

Professor Juniper nodded. "Yes. I noticed that Oshawott was trying to avoid taking too much damage when he went up against Herdier. This allowed it more stamina to spare when it was time to battle Watchog. He does have to watch his health after all, being the only Pokemon on your Trainer's team doesn't afford you much leeway, since you're expected to win the whole battle on your own."

"If I do recall, a shortage of stamina was a problem for the Doctor when he battled Lenora the first time." remarked Daniel.

Szac shrugged. "Oshawott was still hit with three Thunderbolts though."

"Yes, but Oshawott managed to avoid taking full damage from two of those attacks. Once from using his scalchop as a shield, and again when he used Aqua Jet to quickly get away from Watchog before he was exposed to too much of the attack. All that newfound stamina also helps in outlasting those attacks. He may have taken more damage when hit by Thunderbolt while using Aqua Jet, but once again, that's where the stamina comes in." said Fennel.

"Limiting the options for Lenora's Pokemon also played a role." muttered Nicolas.

"Yes, I don't think I've seen any Oshawott, Dewott, or Samurott use its scalchop in quite the manner the Doctor's Oshawott did."

Rory crossed his arms. "Well, the Doctor's a creative man."

Skylar shook her head. "He may be creative, but that seemed quite cruel, considering the choking hazard the scalchop could have caused."

"Well, the battle's over, so we'll be focusing on traveling to Castelia City tomorrow."

"Oh yes, you're taking Skylar and Sophie with you, right Rory?" asked Professor Juniper.

Sophie fiddled with one of her pigtails. "That's the plan."

"Yeah, and Szac and Katrina as well." said Rory.

Fennel nodded. "Well, then you should sleep early, so you'll be refreshed for your trip."

"So what are your plans?"

Professor Juniper cupped her chin. "Let's see. I'll be going back to Nuvema Town now with Spencer and Nicolas. I believe Fennel is going back to Striaton City and Daniel would go to the Relic Castle to see if he can find any more artifacts. Is that right?" Fennel and Daniel nodded in agreement. "Well, some of us might go back to the Relic Castle on a later date to assist with the excavations, so you may see us there when you get to that point. You're certainly welcome to look around when you do. The Nacrene Museum will inform you when they finish fixing their machinery so they can resurrect your Cover Fossil."

"That's great."

"Excellent, shall we head out now?"

Standing in her place, Amy voluntarily excused herself from the conversation. Something about the way the Doctor had battled Lenora rubbed harshly off her. She made it a key point to have a few words with him when they returned to the Pokemon Center.

"Are you alright, Amy? You've been rather quiet." The woman turned to see Katrina, slight concern on the girl's face.

Amy sighed. "Oh, I'm fine, Katrina. Don't worry. Just thinking about something."

"Well, just talk about it if it's bothering you too much. Better to let it out than to bottle it in."

The woman gazed at the Doctor standing on the battlefield. "Oh, I'll be talking to someone about it, alright."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Pokemon Center, The Doctor's Bedroom, January 17, 2011, 12:45 p.m.)_

Amy huffed as she stood in the room of the Pokemon Center she shared with the Doctor and Rory, her critical gaze bearing down on the Time Lord. The minute they had returned to the room, she had pulled the Doctor aside, deciding that they need to talk, leading to the woman assuming her current position standing in front of a bunk bed, the Time Lord seated on the bottom bunk. "Was that really necessary? I mean, I know you wanted to win and find a way past Lenora's strategy, but you were practically mocking her in that first half of the battle! And the way you had Osahwott stuff his scalchop in Herdier and Watchog's mouths just seemed cruel. You could have choked them with it if either of you weren't careful! Listen, I'm happy that you won and all, but I just think you left a bad taste in everyone's mouth today. Not that anyone said too much about it because they think you're a famous researcher."

Rory shrugged from his spot on a chair in the middle of the room. "Yeah, I think you were quite harsh with Lenora, Doctor."

The Doctor huffed. "You think so, huh? Well then, remember the Atraxi projection?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with anything?"

The Time Lord narrowed his eyes, as if daring his companion to answer with anything other than a "yes" or "no". "Do you remember it or not?"

"Alright, yes!"

"The sixth man in that projection. Who is he?"

"One of your past lives. The guy with the short, curly hair."

"Yes, him. Loathe as I am to admit it, I felt like I was him all over again when I battled Lenora. He's not a phase of my life I'm particularly proud of."

"What, you were once really violent and boastful?"

The Doctor sighed. "I can be anytime. In this life, I still feel traces of him lingering, lying underneath the woodwork. All that drive he had to achieve, to achieve regardless of the harmful cost to others. The temptation to laugh, to laugh at those who did what I deemed stupid, and not give an iota of care even if they suffered. Only caring about myself. Murder is a heinous act, but I saw logic in doing so when I was him. All of what he stood for. I can feel it, Amy. I can feel it deep inside me again."

Rory shrugged. "Okay, you're the Doctor. How bad could you have once been?"

The Time Lord shook his head. "I don't think you'll fully understand unless you meet him, Rory. For you and Amy's sake, I truly hope you don't."

Amy blinked, slightly stunned by the information her companion was now sharing with her. The knowledge that one of his past lives was disturbingly violent and brutal at times, self-absorbed and driven to extremist routes to fulfill what he believed in. "But you had to do bad things sometimes. Even now."

"Oh yes, It's not that I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse, I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes, I think a Time Lord lives too long **(1)**… He really exemplified that. Sigh, now my head aches from thinking about this and that battle earlier."

"Pop an aspirin then." offered Rory.

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh no, I can't do that. Aspirin's not good for me. A ticket to the grim reaper **(2)**."

"So you can't take aspirin…"

"I know what it does to humans, and believe me, I wish I could get those benefits sometimes. I wished that once when I was _him_. My sixth life. The one we were talking about."

"What happened?"

"There is a world called Oriens, normally a lovely place. But when I went there as him, it was on the brink of war."

"Why were you there?"

"I received word of a possible Cyberman attack on the world. There was this one country, the Suzaku Fiefdom of Rubrum. I went to the military and magic school there, the Rubrum Peristylium Suzaku, to look for any sign of the Cybermen. It's possible that they could have wanted to cyber-convert **(3)** the students there. The teacher of one class, Class Zero, took in sick, so I became a substitute teacher. Before I knew it, fourteen teenagers were my responsibility for the day. That class was the elite of the elite the school had to offer."

Amy shrugged. "How was it?"

The Doctor sighed. "It was like teaching a bunch of pre-schoolers. But then again, everyone's young compared to me **(4)**."

"So? You taught some kids when we were in Striaton City. Now they were like pre-schoolers. Those spitballs were nasty… How are a bunch of teenagers any worst? I mean, you said it yourself, they're elites."

"That's different. I wasn't _him_ when I taught those kids at Striaton City, Pond. Without going into specifics, let's just say I lost my patience with a few of them. And when I was him, my patience was razor thin. Frankly, I don't know how their teacher even handled them. But I know how I did."

"What did you do?"

"I'll say this. The janitor coming in to clean up for the night was wondering why fourteen children were chained up and dangling upside down from the ceiling of their classroom, which if I may add, was a mess. They each had weapons too."

Rory was amazed. "You did that? You managed to catch, disarm, and subdue fourteen armed students?"

The Doctor chuckled smugly. "And it was with great difficulty."

Amy rolled her eyes. Knowing the Time Lord, that statement was likely an exaggeration. "Oh come on, it's not like they were Daleks. So what happened by that time?"

"Dunno. I was in my TARDIS and leaving Oriens by then. It was a false alarm. There weren't actually any Cybermen in that world. I haven't gone back since." The Time Lord sighed. "Looking back, some of them _were_ nice kids and probably didn't deserve it, but the important thing to note is that I was _him_ back then. _I was him._ _Do you understand me? I was him!_ The ones that misbehaved, even some that didn't, tried to apologize for their behavior or that of their classmates. I got promises from all of them to be good for the rest of the day, even those that were already good, but I simply glared. Oh, I glared. I could sense their blood run cold. Any colder and it'll _freeze_. I intimidated an elite class of teenage warriors who were occasionally sent onto the battlefield. _They were all afraid of me._ Do you know what got to me now? I laughed while I was leaving in the TARDIS. I laughed at my 'righteous discipline', and didn't care about the consequences to them. Too much blood flow to the head can cause strokes and hemorrhaging if you're upside down for too long, you know. The blood just pools at your brain because the blood vessels could burst. But they'll be fine, I left the janitor a note after all. And to top it all off, I had a splitting headache that night and couldn't take an aspirin to soothe it."

Amy gasped. "Blimey! You did that to teenagers?" She repeated the last two words of her sentence for emphasis. "To_ teenagers_?"

"That was the tip of the iceberg when I was him, Pond. What you saw from the battle today is something my sixth life could do all too often. I didn't mean to be sadistic towards Lenora and her Pokemon, and I hope you realize that."

Rory nodded. "I can understand."

Amy sighed. "A part of your past you don't want to dig up, huh? Don't we all have that..."

The Time Lord shook his head. "Anyway, who's to say I won't act like that again? I just don't know… I really don't know…" The Doctor stood up from his bed. "It's almost time for lunch, shall we go out? We'll be leaving Nacrene City tomorrow." Rory and Amy nodded as they followed him out of the room. As the Time Lord walked, his expression was uneasy, disturbing thoughts invading his mind. _"Even though I thought the traits of my sixth life were long gone, they still come back now to remind me of what I did as him. If meeting my third life is anything to go by, it'll be inevitable that I'll run into my sixth life somewhere in Unova. What in the name of Gallifrey will Rory and Amy think of me when they see him? All I can hope for is that I don't have a replacement that will be like him."_

* * *

Author's notes: Wow, I wrote a lot of this in one sitting. I hope that it didn't feel rushed. In my opinion, the Doctor's eleventh incarnation is like a toned down version of his sixth and tenth incarnations at times. Anyway, the Doctor is known to manifest aspects of his past lives from time to time, in rare occasions even behaving almost completely like a previous incarnation. A slight moral: Don't mess with the Doctor's sixth incarnation. The consequences from him are comparatively much crueler than his other lives would dish out. Bonus points if anyone can figure out the reference in the Doctor's story about his sixth incarnation at the end of the chapter.

(1) This line is spoken by the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the episode "The End of Time" when he reveals that there are cracks in the image of him as a good person that rights wrongs throughout the galaxy.

(2) Aspirin is toxic to Time Lords, as a single dose could kill one. It was said to either fatally stop platelet aggregation, cause massive allergic, pulmonary and cerebral embolism, or interfere with the hormone receptor intermediaries. Death could be prevented by entering a deep coma which was outwardly mistakable for death, or by ingesting chocolate.

(3) Cybermen increased their numbers through cyber-conversion, the physical and mental re-engineering of victims that were often near-human, into Cybermen.

(4) This line was spoken by the Doctor in a DVD-exclusive scene set between the episodes "Flesh and Stone" and "The Vampires of Venice", when Amy asked him how many of his past companions were young, attractive women. As it turns out, a lot of them.

Well, I am still taking OCs, at least until Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers and Nicolas Summers belong to yuukifan001.**

**Daniel Pickman belongs to Master of the Boot.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**


	30. The Darkest Secret of the Forest

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"__It __may __be __hard __for __an __egg __to __turn __into __a __bird: __it __would __be __a __jolly __sight __harder __for __it __to __learn __to __fly __while __remaining __an __egg. __We __are __like __eggs __at __present. __And __you __cannot __go __on __indefinitely __being __just __an __ordinary, __decent __egg. __We __must __be __hatched __or __go __bad__."_– C. S. Lewis

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 30: The Darkest Secret of the Forest**

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 18, 2011, 9 a.m.)_

Peering briefly at his watch, the Doctor paced the Pokemon Center's lobby as he turned to gaze at his companions. "Alright, everyone's here, everything's packed, time to go, I suppose."

Rory perked up from his seat after downing a cup of orange juice. "Hey Doctor, did the swelling on your face go down yet?"

The Time Lord rolled his eyes, pointing at the mark on his left cheek, its red color as vibrant as it was the day before. Smeared on its surface was an oily substance, which shone when the room's lighting fell upon it. "What do you think, Rory?"

"Need more cream?"

"No, I think I'm good." Turning his back on his companions, the Doctor walked up to the facility's automatic doors, stopping a foot shy of the range needed to trigger them open. "I said everyone's here, did I? Scratch that. Someone in our group is missing. I'm willing to gander that this person is still in bed."

Sophie huffed. "Well, it's certainly not me."

The Time Lord shrugged, not bothering to turn around so he could face the girl. "I know it isn't you, Sophie, but I think that person would be up right about…" He lowered his head to stare at his watch. "…now." The Doctor chuckled as a surprised shriek was heard from the floor above, startling the other occupants of the lobby. Before long, his Oshawott rushed into the room, letting out a few small pants from the speed he was running at a few seconds ago. "He woke up, right?"

The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded. "Osha!"

"Oh good, we just need to wait a few more minutes then."

* * *

_(Nacrene City, Pokemon Center, January 18, 2011, 9:25 a.m.)_

Szac huffed as he walked up to the Doctor, who was comfortably leaning against the Pokemon Center's external wall next to its automatic doors. "Was that really necessary, Doctor? My pajamas are soaked!"

The Time Lord shrugged as he saw his other companions exit the facility. "You wouldn't wake up. I could resort to having Snivy dangle you out the bedroom window until the blood rushed to your head and you woke up, but you might wake up before you were out the window!" He straightened his expression as his eyes caught sight of the boy's upset look. "Oh, look on the bright side, Szac. Now you don't have to take a shower anymore."

Szac rolled his eyes. "Oh, _very __funny_."

"Compared to some of the wake-up calls _I__'__ve_ gotten, being splashed by Oshawott's Water Gun is nothing."

"What sort of life do you live anyway?"

"A very, very, very adventurous one, and let's leave it at that." The Doctor stared at his companions. "Everyone ready?" He received several affirmative responses in reply as he took out his Town Map. "Good. We'll have to go through Pinwheel Forest to get to Castelia City. It's probably an eighteen hour trek, so spending a night in the forest is a definite possibility. Let's see here, we're leaving at 9:30 a.m., so might it be ambitious to say that we'll stop at 7:30 p.m. with an hour for lunch? That would be about nine hours of travel for today." He looked forward, staring at the vast expanse of forest that started at the edge of Nacrene City's boundaries. "That's a lot of trees."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Picnic Site, January 18, 2011, 1 p.m.)_

Amy tilted her head upward as she sat down on the dense undergrowth of Pinwheel Forest, slightly overwhelmed by the trees that covered her surroundings, allowing little sunlight to trickle to the ground. She kicked off her shoes, her hands moving to massage her feet, feeling sore from the long walk. "We've walked through this forest for hours and there's not an end to it in sight."

Katrina gently placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Pinwheel Forest is renowned for its size. But don't worry, we just have to keep walking and we'll be out soon." The girl stopped, hearing a slight rattling noise resembling knuckles rapping against glass. She stared at the egg case, noticing the egg inside blinking white and shaking slightly. "Wow…"

Amy looked puzzled. "What's going on?"

"Your egg's going to hatch soon! Then you'll know what's inside! Isn't that great?"

The woman grinned. "Of course."

Katrina soon dropped her excited expression, replacing it with trepidation. "Amy?"

"Yes?"

"Watch out for your egg. The Pokemon here are known to steal them, since there are reports that poachers have recently stolen several of their eggs from the nests. They might think you're just another egg thief."

The woman cast a brief glance at the egg case set on the ground next to her. "That's terrible."

"It's nothing new. There are people out there who will exploit Pokemon. But you know, Pokemon are known to show great displays of altruism. They may adopt and hatch a baby Pokemon of a different species and raise it like their own. Can't really blame them for doing so if all they want is a baby to look after."

"Tell me about it."

Katrina cupped her shin in deep thought. "You know, people passing through the forest have also gone missing on occasion for the last month, but the police have no clues about it. There is one area of the forest where people are especially warned not to traverse, since the disappearances have been very high there. Curiously, about a month ago, a massive crash and explosion was heard in the area, but anyone sent to investigate has gone missing, hence the warning. However, they don't believe that it is related to the disappearances of Trainers and Pokemon throughout the rest of Unova."

"I see. Is lunch ready yet, Doctor?"

His back facing Amy, the Doctor crossed his arms as he stared at the pot raised over a fire stoked by Tepig. "Nope. Just be patient."

Sophie shrugged. "At least we're breaking for lunch now."

The Time Lord ran his fingers through his hair. "Don't be lazy, Summers, or I might have to enlist Oshawott's assistance, like I did with Szac."

The girl rolled her eyes as she turned to Szac. "So how bad was it?"

The boy sighed. "My pajamas are still damp."

Rory shrugged. "Well, when the Doctor wants you to be up, you better be up. Not like he gives you much of a choice in the matter." The Doctor cleared his throat. "Okay, scratch that. He gives you _no_ choice in the matter."

The Time Lord stared at the boy. "Hand me your pajamas, Szac." Szac hesitated, unsure of whether he should accede to the request after what the man's Oshawott did to said articles of clothing. "Now." The boy sighed, reluctantly handing over his pajamas, wrapped in a plastic bag to keep them from wetting his other possessions. The Doctor simply pointed to the damp clothes, a cue for Tepig to dry them out by blowing hot air on them through his snout.

Skylar relaxed on the grass. "You know, Pinwheel Forest is the home of a member of the Musketeer trio, Virizi-" Before the girl could complete her sentence, a bird-like creature swooped down from the skies, her pink, black-nailed talons outstretched. She bore a strong resemblance to a vulture, with a pink head and neck, gray beak and tan ruff. Her wings and tail were dressed with brown feathers, with a brown tuft extending from her head, fastened with a bone. Around her waist was a bone skirt, spikes protruding from its front.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "A Mandibuzz! Hit the deck!" The Bone Vulture Pokemon descended upon the group, forcing them to dive towards the grass to avoid nasty scratches from her talons. The Mandibuzz flew towards Amy's egg case, clamping her talons around its lid and flying off with the object.

Katrina dusted small blades of grass from her clothes. "I'm assuming that the Mandibuzz is one of the unlucky few that lost eggs to the poachers."

Amy gritted her teeth as she stood up, glaring at the retreating Bone Vulture Pokemon. "I may feel sorry for Mandibuzz losing her egg, but I'm not going to take her stealing my egg lying down, that's for sure."

Sophie tossed a Pokeball to send out her Pidgeotto. "Rustle, go and find that Mandibuzz!" The Bird Pokemon nodded, taking to the skies in hot pursuit of the Bone Vulture Pokemon.

The Time Lord sighed, turning to stare at his Pokemon. "Guard the site until we get back. It looks like we have a Mandibuzz to find."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Clearing, January 18, 2011, 1:20 p.m.)_

Confident that she had put sufficient distance between herself and the people from whom she had taken the egg clutched between her talons, the Mandibuzz reduced her speed as she began a leisurely flight back to her nest. Her talons grasped the egg case, being careful not to drop the precious cargo. While unfortunate on her part that her egg was stolen by poachers, she had found a new one to raise as her own, convinced that those people had stolen it from another expectant mother Pokemon. The Bone Vulture Pokemon had heard of widespread egg theft by poachers from members of her colony. Not only that, the thefts extended to the eggs of other Pokemon as well. She despised the humans who committed such acts, but knew of a guardian that lived in the forest, a defender of Pokemon habitats from human exploitation. The Mandibuzz now wondered where it was in this trying time for Pokemon. It certainly was not making its presence known any time soon.

Her thoughts were soon rudely interrupted as she heard a shot being fired, feeling a searing pain burn directly through her chest less than a second later, causing her to plummet towards the ground with a cry, dropping the egg case as her talons relaxed their grip involuntarily. The egg case landed on the soft grass, and her body soon followed, pain and agony crossing her face as the sensation of cool morning dew made itself known to the cells on the surface of her skin, soaking through her feathers. Struggling to take refreshing oxygen into her lungs, she weakly looked down, and was shocked to see smoke steam up from a round cavity burnt cleanly into her chest, the feathers around the wound scorched away. Loud footsteps echoed nearly, their sound giving the listener the impression that the walker was wearing unusually heavy shoes.

A humanoid figure came into view, looking like a robot crafted from steel. It had a blank, emotionless face with black eyes and a horizontal slit for a mouth. Bent steel bars resembling handlebars emerged from either side of its crown, connecting to the sides of its head. Its arms terminated in gauntlet-shaped hands, and adorned with a simple metal circle surrounded by three prongs, its chest was divided into segments of steel, ostensibly to offer flexibility. The figure's waist led down into thick, bulky legs, responsible for the clattering noise in its footsteps. The ends of its limbs' upper segments each had a steel bar connecting them. Black wiring was visible between its joints, joining the segments of its body together. The figure knelt down to pick up the egg case, soon accompanied by another who looked completely identical to it. It spoke in a low, buzzing, robotic monotone, its unmoving mouth glowing blue in synchronization with its speech. "Target deleted. The egg has been secured."

The other figure nodded. "Wait, it is contained in a case and must therefore belong to a human."

The first figure stood up, egg case in hand. "That person could be searching for it now. Preparations for his or her upgrade must now commence before he or she arrives at our ship in his or her search. The Cyber-Leader's plan was _excellent_."

With the last seconds of her life, the Mandibuzz came face-to-face with the poachers she had heard so much about. But one thing was for sure, they definitely bore little resemblance to the humans she had imaged.

As they began to walk away, the first figure halted its pace, turning to look at the downed Bone Vulture Pokemon, in the process of releasing the last vestiges of her life. "It would appear that we did not manage to achieve a complete deletion of the target with one shot."

The figure's companion nodded. "That would be the case." The second figure raised its right arm, the metal plating on its forearm shifting aside to reveal a small steel gun which emerged from the newly formed cavity, aimed directly at the Mandibuzz's cranium. The last image the Bone Vulture Pokemon's eyes ever captured was that of a red laser beam fired from the gun, its light soon filling her vision completely. From the skies above, a Pidgeotto took in the sight, hastily flying away before he could be detected by the metal figures.

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Clearing, January 18, 2011, 1:35 p.m.)_

The first person in the group to do so, Katrina walked into a forest clearing, having been prompted to do so by Rustle, who had led them to the spot. The first thing that instantly caught her eye was the still carcass of a Mandibuzz, smoke rising from a massive hole on her chest. Additionally, her head was missing, more smoke streaming from the cropped top of her neck. The girl clapped her hands to her mouth in shock. "Oh my…" Amy rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the girl in a comforting embrace, one that served the additional purpose of averting Katrina's eyes from the dead Pokemon.

Staring at the carcass, Skylar rested her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, tapping a button on the side to obtain a reading. "The Mandibuzz was killed by something with an unusually high amount of heat energy, like a laser. It was certainly done by a weapon, but I don't know of any that can get this hot."

The Doctor shrugged, kneeling down for a closer look. "If my hunch is correct, I do." Poking a finger into the Mandibuzz's chest wound, he swirled the digit about for a second before extracting it, coated in crimson blood. To the surprise of his companions, he brought the finger to his mouth, sucking off the red substance and licking it around his palate. "Haven't tasted Mandibuzz blood before, and well, now I know what it tastes like. Quite earthy, like copper in liquid form… But blood does have a high copper content anyway…"

Amy's eyes widened. "Doctor, that's disgusting!"

Szac was stunned. "I know researchers want to find out everything about Pokemon and all, but I have never seen one this devoted to it…"

The Time Lord shrugged. "When you share 98% of your genes with Vampires **(1)**, consider that a side effect."

"Like the Saturnyns **(2)**?" asked Amy.

"Those were fish-like aliens who _pretended_ to be Vampires, no the ones I'm talking about are the blood suckers." The Doctor shrugged, going into deep thought. "Anyway, the Mandibuzz was shot in the chest first, and still alive for a short while after that. Shooting her in the head was completely unnecessary and overkill, since she would have succumbed to the chest wound in less than five minutes. Anyway, the blood's strangely hot, well above a Mandibuzz's normal body temperature. I'm sure she was killed a while ago, but the body is still retaining heat now." He cupped his chin. "But the weapon that killed her was powerful enough to completely vaporize the head." He perked up in alarm. "Oh dear me, they're here. Didn't think they would come to Unova of all places, but here's the proof…"

Rory scratched his head. "They? Who are 'they'?"

"This Mandibuzz was shot dead by a wrist blaster carried by a Cyberman. It most certainly takes a heck-of-a-lot to shoot out a Mandibuzz too. I can definitely tell you that they're more durable than those wild game birds the average hunter shoots on Earth. Well, Pokemon are more durable than animals on Earth anyway, with those attacks that they're capable of launching and taking. But Mandibuzz are one tough species. They very well should be, what with those thick bone ornaments they're so fond of wearing. It's like armor to them. And that Cyberman gun did it with one hit."

Szac nodded. "You mentioned it once while I was in the Pokemon Center. What's Earth?"

"A planet in a distant star system from yours, one known as the Solar System." replied the Time Lord.

"Cybermen? What are Cybermen?" asked Sophie.

The Time Lord began to pace the surface area of the clearing. "Cybermen. Towering cybernetic humanoid creatures clad absolutely, completely, one hundred percent in metal armor. They cruise about the universe in their giant, shiny, silver spaceships, with the singular aim of conquering others."

Sophie raised an eyebrow in skepticism, deciding to give the Doctor the benefit of the doubt. "Oh? And how do these 'Cybermen' do that?"

"They can't reproduce naturally, so they seek to increase their numbers by turning anyone not like them into, well…them. They call it cyber-conversion or an 'upgrade'. They call it an ascent to what they believe is the ultimate perfection of all humanity. They call it making you 'compatible' with their species. Spares them the need to kill anyone and adds more soldiers to their army. Apart from perfection, they strive for relative equality, and as such, through the process, have been homogenized to the point of the almost complete obliteration of individuality. No names either. Each individual Cyberman is simply given a serial number. As a side effect of that, their personalities and emotions… All wiped out. They became slaves to logic."

"I can't imagine that."

"Then imagine this. The Cybermen and their conversion process are like plastic surgery for humans, I don't know why, but people seem to possess this 'need' to have the 'perfect body', copying whatever 'celebrities' they think have that trait, and sometimes these people inadvertently destroy themselves in the process. In my view, if someone does that, it's a big blow to their individuality. Everyone is their own person, but the real tragedy of it all is that few can see it **(3)**. You have to ask yourself this, how far are humans willing to go, at the cost to themselves, in the quest for perfection? The Cybermen believe that they've gone the farthest anyone possibly has, and believe it logical that others should bask in their 'perfection' as well, hence their attitude towards converting other races. They call themselves 'upgraded humans'."

"And where do the Cybermen come from?"

"A long time ago, our Solar System once had an extra planet. The tenth planet. But not anymore."

The only person other than his wife to possess some semblance of understanding the Doctor's words by virtue of having traveled with Time Lord, Rory raised an eyebrow, noting that the others had resigned to quietly listening to anything the Doctor said for now, despite not being able to comprehend most of it, lacking the experience of traveling beyond their home planet. Any attempt by them to dispute his comments would be pointless. "Tenth? But there are now eight planets in the Solar System. Don't you mean ninth?"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Back then, Pluto was considered a planet, so I'll say tenth for the heck of it. In hindsight, I'm too used to that designation. My first life was always a staunch traditionalist and quite uptight. Mind you, I'll still one today though, though I'd like to think that I've done away with the uptightness."

"Is 'uptightness' even a word?"

"No. Hmmm… Maybe, yes. Well, _I_ used it, so it _has __to_ be a word." The Time Lord produced a dictionary from his backpack, opening it to a seemingly random page without looking, proceeding to point at a specific spot. "Yep, it's a word."

Skylar rolled her eyes. "Do you keep a dictionary around just so you can do that?"

The Doctor ignored the girl's comment. "Anyway, there was a tenth planet in the Solar System. That planet was Mondas, Earth's twin planet **(4)**, sharing its orbit and landmass appearance. In fact, imagine Earth upside down without any clouds. That's what Mondas looked like. The two planets were _that_ similar. The creatures on both planets also had similar evolutionary histories. Find a creature on Earth and I can almost guarantee that you'll find a parallel on Mondas."

"So what's the Mondasian parallel for humans?" asked Amy.

Skylar was stunned. "People live on other planets?"

The Time Lord chuckled. "Fascinating, isn't it? The Mondasian parallel for humans are a quaint species called Mondasians, later known as the Cybermen."

"How did that happen?"

"I'm getting there. Way back in the past, say the time of the dinosaurs, or for the _uninitiated_, fossil Pokemon, Mondas drifted out of its shared orbit with Earth and headed towards the edge of space, far from the warmth of the Sun. While still remaining in the relative confines of the Solar System, Mondas became an orphan planet. Temperatures there dipped way below zero, and to survive, the Mondasians took to living underground and converting themselves to cyborgs. The process, known as 'cyber-conversion', entailed replacing nonessential body parts with artificial components, and encasing those humans can't possibly live without in armor. Yep, they still have organic components under all that metal **(5)**."

Szac scratched his head. "Let me get this straight. There are people out there in space who habitually turn themselves in cyborgs."

The Doctor nodded. "Why, yes. And they also did away with their emotions in the conversion process by modifying the responsible parts of the brain, viewing them as a weakness. Personally, I think they deliberately removed their emotions as part of the conversion process to stifle the physical and emotional trauma of becoming a Cyberman **(6)**. Removing emotions would also change the mindset of someone converted against their will, making them less prone to rebelling and easier to integrate into the Cyberman race by increasing its appeal to the new convert. They might even think being a Cyberman is now a good thing and look to convert others, and that's the scary part. Eventually, all Mondasians underwent the process, becoming the Cyberman race. As the original race was limited in numbers and were continually being depleted, the Cybermen became a race of conquerors who reproduced by taking other organic beings and forcibly converting them into more Cybermen."

Rory found himself becoming increasingly entranced by the Time Lord's words. "So what happened to Mondas?"

The Doctor's speech adopted a grim undertone. "Eventually, the Cybermen developed a drive which used electro-magnetic energy to propel Mondas through space. That took a big toll on the planet's energy reserves, and the Cybermen soon discovered that the only solution was to plunder energy from Earth by returning Mondas to its former orbit. And so, that's what they did in 1986. How old were you back then, Pond?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "That was three years before I was born…"

The Time Lord chuckled sheepishly. "Oh. Well anyway, the Cybermen invaded the Earth's South Pole while they propelled Mondas close, draining Earth's energy. However, the energy absorbed was too much, and Mondas disintegrated, killing all the Cybermen there and those that invaded Earth, since they were dependent on Mondas' energy to live."

"How do you know all of this?"

The Doctor's voice adopted a cryptic tone. "Stop being so snide, Amy. Let's just say I have the experience of death to drive it into my head **(7)**. You learn these things when you're faced with death. Remember how I said the Cybermen became conquerors? Before its destruction, several groups of Cybermen had left Mondas to travel the galaxy. They colonized several planets and had a presence in others, building cyber-tombs there where they could rest in suspended animation. If people discovered a tomb and went inside, it would seal itself closed and trap the explorers. The Cybermen would then awaken from their sleep and convert the trapped people into more Cybermen. That was their way of adding to their numbers until they had enough to conquer the planet. Some groups of Cybermen are still out there, continuing to venture through space. These Cybermen have made it their goal to conquer other planets by converting their inhabitants, and they're still at it to this very day."

"Seems like every race we encounter has some sort of agenda."

"It's in their culture and beliefs. And the Cybermen think that everyone should be like them. But anyway, that's the tenth planet for you. Or ninth, if you're like Rory here, since Pluto is _apparently_ no longer a planet based on the _definition __of __a __planet_ put forth in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union or IAU. Said definition states that a planet is a celestial body which is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium or a nearly round shape in laymen's terms, and has 'cleared the neighborhood' or become gravitationally dominant and there are no other bodies of comparable size other than its own satellites or those otherwise under its gravitational influence around its orbit. Since Pluto failed to meet the third criteria, it was reclassified as a…" The Doctor's voice dropped, and his companions could have sworn that they detected a hint of contempt in his speech. "…dwarf planet. Come to think about it, since Mondas did not meet the first and third criteria, the IAU would not have considered it a planet either…" The Time Lord narrowed his eyes, on the verge of lashing out with his opinion on the subject. "Now that I think about it, who do a bunch of stuffy astronomers from _Earth_ of all places think they are, attaching something like a 'definition' to such an abstract term like 'planet', and then going around telling people what is and is not a 'planet'! Do they have any comprehension for what that means to anyone who just so happens to live on Pluto? I won't stand for it! I daresay that haven't been on another planet before in their lives! I'll continue to call Pluto a planet and I bloody dare them to stop me! But Mondas isn't the only place Cybermen were made. That's right, Cybermen are _made_, not _born_."

Katrina bit her lip, apprehension crossing her face from the Doctor's vivid description of creatures she did not now existed until now. "They came from elsewhere?"

The Time Lord nodded. "Indeed. Have you ever wondered if there are other universes out there? Not just other planets floating about in the galaxies of the universe, but other universes? Each one out there sealed off from the others, each one with its own dimensions, its own galaxies, its own stars, its own planets, its own inhabitants? You could travel all over this universe and not see all of it in several lifetimes, but to go to another universe, that opens up a whole new can of worms. Too bad it can't be done anymore **(8)**."

Sophie shrugged. "I think Daniel mentioned alternate universes existing as a possibility."

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, it's more than just a mere possibility, Sophie. It's a _reality_. The many-worlds interpretation implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each possible outcome in history represented by the constitution of an alternate universe **(9)**, none of them interacting with each other. And all of these universes came about naturally. We all know that from Castelia City, the Black Prince conquered every settlement in Unova to unite the region into one kingdom. Well, there could be a universe out there where he failed in that endeavor. Yep, if you can imagine that case, Unova would be a very different place. But until that point in time when he set out to conquer, history for both universes is the same. The differing results of the conquest would cause this natural divergence, and both universes would evolve differently afterward. As alternate universes aren't meant to interact with each other, travel between them would be near impossible, though Palkia is certainly capable of such a feat."

"Of course, it's the Pokemon that controls space."

"Anyway, located in this alternate universe I like to call 'Pete's World' is a parallel version of Earth. And based in the United Kingdom of that Earth is a company called Cybus Industries. If you can imagine any product conceivable by man, Cybus Industries manufactured it. They were the sole provider of global communications on that planet. The British Broadcasting Corporation or BBC there went bankrupt because of them. They were that huge. And at the core of it all was one man, John Lumic. He had a brilliant mind, but unfortunately, he tended to go about things the _wrong_ way. Oh, he went about them in a very wrong way. You see, he had a terminal illness and was on life support in a wheelchair. Like many of us in his state, he sought to extend his life. And he had an experimental procedure by which to do it. He perfected a method to sustain the human brain indefinitely in a cradle of chemicals, bonding the synaptic impulses to a metal exoskeleton like a suit of armor. To test his idea, he tricked and abducted homeless people for his experiments. In his mind, no one will miss them."

Katrina gasped. "That's horrible! Everyone has rights!"

The Time Lord sighed. "Indeed. I pity the poor souls who went through Lumic's experiments. He had their skulls sliced open with a machine that used knives, lasers and syringes to remove the brain before encasing it in an empty cybernetic helmet. The brain was connected to an artificial nervous system and surrounded by chemicals that kept it alive in the helmet. The helmet was connected to a suit of armor, the artificial nervous system allowing the brain to control this metal body. I can tell you right now that the process itself is _extremely_ painful and traumatic to the subject. John Lumic pioneered a new form of cyber-conversion. He created a new variant of Cybermen."

"Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel." said Szac.

The Doctor shrugged. "And that is one cause of scientific advancement. A good number of scientists like to read, and from there, they like to emulate what they have read. But I can tell you that this is from no novel." The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Of course, _these_ Cybermen required one more addition. An emotional inhibitor chip in their chests. This vital component was responsible for suppressing the emotions of the Cybermen. Without it, they would go insane."

"Why?"

"What happens if your human brain, still functioning like a normal person's save for emotions, suddenly regained said emotions and discovered itself inhabiting that metal shell? This is _your __human __brain_ now fully and completely aware that it once occupied your flesh and blood body. What'll happen then? It'll scream, alright. It'll scream and scream from the influx of emotions and the realization of it no longer being human at all until it can't take it anymore and shorts out due its _sheer __inability_ to comprehend the situation. It'll explode, sometimes literally."

"What happened after those Cybermen were created?"

"Lumic sought government approval for his work. He went to the President of Great Britain, and presented the idea. That's right, in Pete's World, Britain had a President, not a Prime Minister. The President was horrified by the concept and rejected it, so Lumic decided to take down the government. He sent his Cybermen to kill the President and took effective control of the United Kingdom. Lumic had factories all over the world which he used to convert people, and Cvbus Industries manufactured a product called the 'EarPod' which made it all possible. The EarPod could be used by people to play music or make calls, and add information directly to their heads like today's news, for instance. If you want an analogy, they easily functioned like Town Maps, Pokegears, Pokenavs, Poketechs, Xtransceivers, and C-Gears. All that technology in one small device you hook onto your ear. But the EarPods served a more sinister purpose. Lumic transmitted a radio signal through them that induced a hypnotic trance into the wearer's brain, making him or her susceptible to his suggestions. Being the worldwide corporation Cybus Industries was, a lot of people wore EarPods. Lumic was able to literally instruct millions of people all over the world to walk to their nearest Cybus factory and be converted into a Cyberman. The EarPods also prevented their wearers from feeling pain through the process. The Cybermen then spread out all over Earth, taking control of nations and toppling governments." The Time Lord's voice became solemn. "In seeking the latest technology and a more perfect life, humans allowed themselves to be taken over by Lumic."

Szac raised an eyebrow. "Didn't someone do something about it? I mean, someone must have realized what was going on and resisted."

"You're right. Not everyone took this lying down. Some people formed a resistance group known as the 'Preachers'. They dedicated themselves to the downfall of the Cybermen and Cybus Industries. When Lumic announced a plan to convert the entire population of London, the Preachers stormed his factory there. Lumic was injured and eventually converted into a advanced form of Cyberman himself, the 'Cyber-Controller'. However, the Preachers managed to override the factory's EarPod transmitter and disable the Cybermen's emotional inhibitors, causing the Cybermen to die, and breaking the EarPods' hold on other people. Lumic himself died in the battle."

Sophie cupped her chin. "That's good, right? The Preachers won."

The Doctor beamed. "Oh yes, they did. They won. The Preachers spread out around the world to shut down Lumic's remaining factories and destroy the Cybermen already created. Battles were fought all over Earth, but in the end, the Preachers successfully sealed the Cybermen in their factories and retook Earth for humanity. However, millions of Cybermen discovered a crack between Pete's World and this universe, and crossed over. It is a pretty good guess to say that they are in a firm position to continue their mission here."

"After all that effort, the Cybermen are still a threat?"

"The craftiest of people will always find a way to continue, Sophie. The real tragedy of it all is that the Cybermen were once humans or a closely related species. And many of them didn't willingly chose to become Cybermen. Unfortunately, there's no way to reverse cyber-conversion. Due to the processes employed to remove their emotions, most Cybermen retain very little to no memories of their lives before they were converted. They could later wind up killing their families and friends and not realize it. Or it they did, they would not care since those people aren't Cybermen. If you feel no guilt, there's little reason to stop what you're doing. For the Cybermen, it's either you become them, or they deem you incompatible and 'delete' **(10)** you."

Katrina sighed. "People becoming something others can't recognize as human anymore. How sad."

Skylar rolled her eyes. "So what you're trying to say from all this is that there are creatures that come from outer space?"

Rory instantly sprung to the Time Lord's defense. "What's wrong with that?"

"It just seems rather mind-blowing."

"And Pokemon from outer space isn't?"

Skylar shrugged. "You have a point."

The Time Lord perked up. "Apart from Amy's egg being stolen by a Mandibuzz and later Cybermen, we have another problem. That egg is about to hatch soon. When they just hatch, baby Pokemon tend to 'imprint' upon the first suitable moving stimulus they see and they will consider that thing to be their 'mother'. Usually, that is the case for wild Pokemon. They will then follow that thing around to bond with it. This concept is the reason why it's important for Trainers to be present when their eggs hatch. Being imprinted upon by the baby Pokemon is essential to easing the process of bonding with it. It's not going to help matters for the rightful Trainer if the baby Pokemon considers another person to be its 'mother'. Biologists on Earth have used the imprinting process to get birds hatched in captivity to follow them in the absence of a proper mother bird. This is key for teaching the birds their traditional migratory routes and how to feed, so that they can eventually be released into the wild. Imprinting is a crucial period in a creature's life, as this is when it discerns for itself who its parents are." He cupped his chin, allowing that piece of information to sink into his companions' heads. "Now let's think about what would happen if the egg hatches in the presence of the Cybermen…" The eyes of the Doctor's companions widened, and he knew they realized the implications of what he had just told them.

Amy stood up, determination across her visage. "I'm going to find my egg."

"But your egg was taken by Cybermen! They have no compunctions about converting you to their side if they catch you, and certainly don't mind killing you if you resist."

The woman huffed. "So what? I don't care if the Cybermen are _more __dangerous_ than Team Plasma. I'm _not_ losing another Pokemon today."

The Time Lord sighed. "Since you're so insistent, Pond. I see little point in trying to stop you. The Cybermen have no scent to speak of, being cybernetic steel constructs, it's pointless to try and track them with your Herdier. They could have gone in any direction."

"What do you suggest then?"

The Doctor pointed at a clearing exit. "Split up. Go with Rory, Skylar, and Katrina that way. I'll take Szac and Sophie the other way. Now hurry along, I think we wasted enough time here as it is."

"That's only because you chose to give everyone a long lecture about the Cybermen."

"Would everyone here apart from you and Rory have believed me otherwise?"

"I thought the dead Mandibuzz was pretty definitive proof." deadpanned Amy.

The Time Lord shrugged, impatience permeating his voice. "Just go already!" The woman huffed as she left with her designated group. The Doctor turned to Sophie. "Have Rustle follow the other group from a distance. I have a bad feeling about this. And whatever you do, _do __not_ have Rustle attack."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Cyber-ship Control Room, January 18, 2011, 2:20 p.m.)_

**(Insert Music: The Cybermen - Murray Gold)**

Standing up from its seated position in front of a control panel, a steel figure surveyed the others of its kind in the room. The only difference it possessed to set it apart from them was the black bars on the sides of its head. "Have you deleted the target and obtained the objective?"

Another figure set Amy's egg case on a table. "That is affirmative."

The black barred figure examined the egg case, noticing the slight shaking of the egg inside. "This egg appears to be close to hatching and with the surrounding case as an indicator, was owned by a human prior to its seizure by the deleted Pokemon. Cyber-units 13-094, 13-095, 13-096, 13-097, and 13-098 will take ten Cybermats and five Cybershades to draw out said human, along with any associates he or she may have, and lead this human to the ship."

A steel figure faced the black barred figure. "We obey." The figure turned and left the room, followed by four other figures.

The black barred figure continued to examine the egg case. "What is the status of our communications systems?"

A third figure replied. "Systems are at a near complete state of repair. Contact with other Cyber-units will soon be imminent."

"Excellent. Cyber-units 13-099, 13-100, and 13-101 will attend to the repairs. All other units, prepare the conversion chamber for his or her upgrade and the upgrade of the Pokemon that will emerge from this egg."

"We obey."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Tree Growth, January 18, 2011, 3 p.m.)_

Amy sighed as she felt her tired feet ache with every progressive step through the forest. "Did you notice anything yet, Skylar?"

Skylar nodded as she stared at the ground with her sunglasses. "It looks like the grass here was disturbed quite recently. The shapes resemble footprints. And I must say, these footprints are certainly larger than any I have seen."

Amy perked up. "Then we must be getting closer!"

Rory looked uncertain. "Uh, Amy? Do you actually have a plan on how to handle the Cybermen when we meet them?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Does the Doctor ever need a plan?"

Katrina smiled. "Oh! I've got one! How about we just charge in there with our Pokemon and show those Cybermen who's boss?"

It was Rory's turn to roll his eyes. "Somehow, I don't think that will work out so well. They're men made from metal."

"Oh come on, even metal has a breaking point. Pokemon attacks are strong and a lot of them can break tough metal. Those lousy old Cybermen will be heaps of scrap for the junkyard before they know it!"

"I'm sure that the Doctor is apprehensive about them for a very good reason!"

Katrina pouted. "You're no fun! What do you think, Amy?"

"As long as it doesn't get us killed and gets my egg back. I'm fine."

Rory sighed. "Just don't do anything silly, okay? You're not the Doctor."

Skylar's eyes widened. "Uh, what's that noise?" Before anyone could respond, three hand-sized metallic silverfish-like creatures leapt out from the tree growth, each latching on to a nearby tree. Each creature had a segmented body, with two red lights on the sides of every second section. They also had black, circular eyes and a mouth full of sharp fangs. Seven more creatures soon followed, rushing down the grass and into the group's line of sight.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Cybermats…" Her companions had little time to question how she was familiar with the creatures **(11)**, for a second later, five steel figures emerged, staring down the group.

A figure stepped forward. "Four human targets identified. Adrenaline level has increased in two of them, suggesting familiarity with our species."

"Speak of the devil. You're the Cybermen, aren't you? Give me back my egg!"

Katrina tensed her frame. "Those are the Cybermen?"

The Cyberman stood tall, its face incapable of displaying its nonexistent emotions, its robotic, monotonous voice proving to be unsettling to human who heard it. "No human here has ever identified us before today. But you have identified as the owner of the egg we have obtained."

The woman glared at the cyborg. "So you _do_ have my egg! And you killed that Mandibuzz to get it!"

"That Pokemon was obstructing our goal, and so it was deleted."

Amy stepped forward, her gaze confrontational. "Why did you kill her? She was no match for you!"

The Cyberman showed no sign that it was affected by the woman's emotional outburst. "_She_ would have been difficult to convert and upgrade due to her ability to fly, and thus could escape us easily. Her deletion was the _only __logical __course __of __action_. And now, you will accompany us back to our ship."

"And if we refuse?"

"Do not attempt to escape. It is illogical to attempt escape."

Amy jumped as she felt something bump against her foot. A quick glance down allowed her to catch sight of a Cybermat which scurried up to her. The woman shrieked, kicking away the metal creature with a start. "Get away from me, you silver rat!" The Cybermat was flung into a tree, visibly stunned.

The Cyberman raised its right arm, withdrawing the gun installed into its wrist and pointing the weapon straight at the woman's chest. "Enough. Take the logical route and come peacefully, or we will resort to force."

Rory snarled, snapping off a nearby branch and lunging at the Cyberman. Three Cybermats leapt up towards him in a bid to intercept his approach, but he batted them away with the stick in one quick motion. The nurse slammed the stick into the underside of the Cyberman's wrist, knocking the limb upwards and disrupting the cyborg's aim. The Cyberman fired its weapon, the red laser only succeeding in burning a few leaves from the treetops. "I don't care _who_ it is, _no__one_ threatens my wife!"

The Cyberman roughly shoved Rory aside. "Incapacitate them." The remaining four Cybermen began a slow advance towards the group as they held out their hands, their fingertips cackling with blue electricity, the sparkling energy dancing across their palms.

Rory's distraction allowing her this opportunity, Katrina reached for a Pokeball. "Let's go, Luxray!"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "An electric-type?"

Katrina shrugged. "I watched some movies growing up on the farm. The evil robots usually get hit by some electric attack from a Pokemon and short circuit **(12)**, don't they?"

"That's crazy."

"Crazy enough to work, I'll say."

Skylar shrugged as she pulled out a Pokeball of her own. "Not like there's any other option. Come on, Blue." The Rotom whizzed from its Pokeball, staring at the slew of approaching opponents.

Amy bit her lip. "This isn't a movie!"

Katrina pointed at the Cyberman who struck Rory. "Luxray, use Thunderbolt!" The Gleam Eyes Pokemon nodded as she shot off a yellow bolt of electricity at the cyborg.

The command prompted Skylar to follow suit. "Blue, Shock Wave!" Blue electricity surrounded the Plasma Pokemon as it too launched its attack, sending a bolt of blue electricity at the same Cyberman.

The two electric-type attacks struck the cyborg in multiple points on its steel body, but it simply shrugged off the moves, showing no sign that it was even remotely affected. The Cyberman pointed at the two Pokemon. "Cybermats, intercept." The Cybermats darted forward and opened their mouths. Skylar and Katrina widened their eyes as their Pokemon's attacks were drawn away from the Cyberman and into the maws of the small metallic creatures.

Amy crossed her arms. _"__Of __course, __the __Doctor __told __me __this __once. __The __Cybermen __are __cyborgs __and __are __somewhat __dependent __on __electricity __as __a __power __source. __Heck, __they __use __it __to __electrocute __people __sometimes. __But __being __stuck __by __too __much __of __it __will __short __circuit __them. __That__'__s __why __they __brought __those __Cybermats __along. __To __defend __against __anyone __who __uses __electric-type __Pokemon __attacks. __The __Cybermats __can __consume __electricity __and __store __it, __using __it __as __a __power __source __later! __The __Cybermen __can __then __use __the __electricity __for __whatever __they __want!__" _"Stop attacking! You're only helping the Cybermen!" Realizing this, Luxray and Blue ceased their attacks.

The Cyberman raised its wrist blaster again. "An accurate observation. But it is one that will not assist you in the long run." Another Cyberman shot a bolt of blue electricity from its fingers at Amy, but before the attack could strike her, Rory darted in front, using his stick to harmlessly conduct the electrical discharge. The nurse convulsed as he stood, his frame twitching violently. When the Cyberman ceased shocking him, Rory collapsed onto his knees, panting heavily, with smoke rising from his clothes.

Amy gasped. "RORY!" She grabbed her only Pokeball and tossed it. "Herdier! Protect everyone!" Wrapping her arms around her husband, the woman cringed as she felt the heat emanating from his frame, his vestments sporting multiple burn marks. Amy wrinkled her nose as the smell of burnt fabric entered her nostrils.

Skylar nodded. "That stick Rory was holding served as an insulator and protected him from much of the electricity, but he was still affected by what _did_ hit him."

Noticing that Rory was still conscious, the Cyberman who shocked him attempted to do so again, only to be stopped by the one who sported its wrist blaster. "Stop. We cannot risk killing valuable targets needed for upgrades. Their Pokemon, however, are expendable and can be deleted." Turning to look at the couple, the Cyberman noticed Rory standing up, having replaced his burnt stick for another one lying on the ground. "Cybermats, incapacitate them." The ten creatures quickly complied, forming a circle around the couple. The cyborg looked onward, pointing at Katrina's Luxray with its gun.

Amy gritted her teeth. "Herdier, get Luxray out of the way!" The Loyal Dog Pokemon leapt towards the Gleam Eyes Pokemon, knocking her aside just as the Cyberman's red laser swept past, burning a hole into a nearby tree. The two Pokemon slid a meter down along the grass, falling into a dazed heap at the roots of another tree. Sensing her distraction, a Cybermat leapt toward Amy with its teeth bared.

This action did not escape Rory's notice, as he swung around, striking down the Cybermat and another who attempted to aid its comrade. "Come on! Anyone else?" A third Cybermat lunged at the nurse, but he shoved the side of his stick into its mouth. Raising the stick with the Cybermat still attached, Rory proceeded to slam it into the ground with all of his strength, dislodging the creature and rendering it unconscious.

The woman shot her companions a look. "Recall your Pokemon! If that Cyberman's laser hits them, they're goners!" Skylar reacted first, hastily recalling her Rotom into its Pokeball. Katrina fumbled with hers, just as the Cyberman took aim with its wrist blaster. Feeling adrenaline pump into her bloodstream, Amy darted away from her spot behind Rory, the nurse thwarting a Cybermat trying to attacking her by kicking it away, creating an opening for her to escape the creatures. The woman held out Herdier's Pokeball and recalled the Loyal Dog Pokemon. Reaching Katrina, Amy wrapped an arm around the girl's waist, grabbing Luxray's Pokeball from her belt. The woman recalled the Gleam Eyes Pokemon for Katrina as the Cyberman's weapon severed several of the tree's roots.

As Skylar was stowing away Blue's Pokeball, another Cyberman fired off a bolt of blue electricity from its hand, striking the girl full on. Skylar was knocked on her back as her body convulsed, her fingers tear up patches of grass as they twitched beyond her control. Her vocal cords continued to vibrate rapidly, continuous screams escaping her lips before she fell silent. Smoke streamed from her downed frame as the Cyberman withdrew its arm and stopped the attack.

Katrina gasped. "SKYLAR! Is she…"

Amy tightened the arm she had around Katrina's waist. "She's not dead. The Cybermen want us alive so they can convert us. Make us into them."

A Cyberman puts its arms to its sides. "This is taking longer than expected." The group could swear that if the cyborg still had its emotions and a proper face to display them, it would be frowning deeply. "Cybershades, emerge."

Dread permeated Katrina's face. "What are Cybershades?"

The woman shook her head. "I-I don't k-know."

His efforts having caused the Cybermats to retreat from his personal space, Rory tightened his grip on his stick. "Whatever they are, they can't be good." No sooner had those words left the nurse's mouth did five yak-like creatures emerged from the trees around the group. They were quadrupedal and had long, shaggy black fur. The fronts of their heads were covered by a bronze mask shaped like a Cyberman's face. The sides of the top of the masks had bronze bars connecting them.

The Cyberman pointed at the group. "Cybershades, incapacitate them." Two Cybershades advanced on Rory while the remaining three focused their efforts on Amy and Katrina. The nurse snarled as he swung his stick, slamming it into a Cybershade's face. The wood broke on contact with the bronze mask, but managed to stun the creature, causing it to stagger back for a few steps. The other Cybershade tackled the nurse to the ground, resting a foot on his torso to incapacitate him. Exhausted from being shocked by a Cyberman, Rory slipped into unconsciousness with this new attack.

Amy screamed as she saw her husband fall. "RORY!"

Katrina quickly grabbed the woman's hand and moved to lead her away from the area. "Come on, Amy! We've got to get out of here and find the others!"

"But what about…"

"They'll be fine! You said that the Cybermen want them alive, didn't you? We'll get captured for sure if we stay here! Our Pokemon's attacks don't even do much against them!"

A Cyberman pointed at the retreating people. "Cybershades, stop their escape. It is illogical to escape." A Cybershade dashed after Amy and Katrina, before leaping above them. It quickly landed in front of them, cutting off their escape route. In contrast to the slow movement speed of the Cybermen, the Cybershades reached their destination with surprising agility, the remaining four creatures encircling their quarry. The Cybermen approached, meeting Amy's defiant gaze before one held out its hand, electrocuting the humans into unconsciousness, taking advantage of their close proximity to each other to do so. The steel figure derived neither satisfaction nor guilt from its act as it saw the humans convulse briefly before going silent. To it, this was just another day in its job of converting others to its race.

In the distance, out of the vantage points of the Cyber-creatures, a Pidgeotto surveyed their actions, following them from the skies as they took away the downed humans.

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Rumination Field, January 18, 2011, 3:20 p.m.)_

"Somehow, I'm starting to think that we may be going the wrong way."

The Doctor turned to stare at Szac, raising an eyebrow at the boy's suggestion. "Oh?"

"Yeah. I mean, we've been walking for quite a while, and there's no sign of any of those Cybermen you mentioned. Just trees. Lots and lots and lots of trees…"

"Well, we'll get there. Eventually." The Time Lord paused as something caught his attention, his gaze shifting in its direction. "Hold on, what's that over there?" Szac and Sophie gave each other brief glances before they followed suit, looking to see what has so piqued the Doctor's interest. A few meters ahead, blocking off the passageway into a dense growth of trees was a wall of massive rocks. The wall stretched outwards from the group's location in a curved shape for meters on end, eventually circling back on itself. From the remainder of the forest, the wall encloses a roughly circular patch of land with a small strip jutting out from it. The Doctor walked tentatively towards the nearest rock, his eyes falling upon the carving of a quadrupedal creature etched onto its surface. "That's Virizion."

Sophie perked up. "Then this must be the wall that surrounds the Rumination Field!"

Szac raised an eyebrow. "The what?"

"Rumination Field. It's where the Legendary Pokemon Virizion took up residence after its original home in the Moor of Icirrus was devastated by a massive fire started by Reshi-"

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, rapping his knuckles onto the rock to catch his companions' attention. "Oi! For your information, that dragon was trying to stop Zekrom's rampage through Unova after their masters died fighting each other. The fire was an accident!"

Sophie sighed. "It was an accident, yes. I study that dragon a lot, you know? My brother prefers to study Zekrom. It is a common misconception that the fire was started on purpose. Many groups of people and Pokemon emerged from the disorder caused by Zekrom, and fought each other across the region for its diminished resources, the civil war plunging Unova into the ideal discord that the Black Prince desired. While some groups of people worked with their Pokemon in the fight, others saw Zekrom as an abomination. To them, it wasn't naturally supposed to exist, being the result of a dragon tearing itself apart due to love for its two masters and indecisiveness in choosing between them. The thought to those people was, if something so vile and evil could emerge from the bond a person has with a Pokemon, then what was the point of having such bonds? I know, it's a warped train of thought, but there you go. Those people released their Pokemon _en __masse_, and some even killed Pokemon, pinning the blame for Zekrom's creation on those creatures. Unaware of it, they became like the person they held responsible for the whole problem in the first place, the Black Prince. The people who killed Pokemon also went so far as to destroy some Pokemon habitats, slaughtering more of these fine creatures."

Szac scratched his head. "That reminds me a lot of Team Plasma wanting people to release their Pokemon."

"It does, doesn't it? The war went on for quite a while, amid the backdrop of the dragons battling across Unova. Sometime during the fighting, that fire broke out at the Moor of Icirrus, accidentally caused by the White Prince's dragon during a skirmish it had with Zekrom. While many Pokemon perished in the blaze, the musketeer trio rescued several more from it. Terrakion used its characteristic strength to destroy the boulders blocking escape. Virizion made use of its swiftness to protect Pokemon from the sparks. And Cobalion guided the frightened Pokemon out of the forest. The three Pokemon also adopted the orphaned Keldeo. Most notably, after rescuing the Pokemon from the Moor of Icirrus, the musketeer trio put a stop to the fighting, using their might and prowess to force those warring groups to back down in the name of peace for Unova's Pokemon. Remembering what the White Prince did for the region during his reign, and disgraced that they were disrespecting his memory with their fighting, the people refocused their efforts in rebuilding Unova in a similar manner he built it up, though it took several years for all the damage to be fully repaired. With the White Prince, their only link to humans, gone, the musketeer trio scattered, each one finding a new dwelling of its own to avoid contact with people. The White Prince was the musketeer trio's sign that not all people wanted to exploit Pokemon and their habitats, but after what his dragon did, their distrust of people intensified. To this day, they still despise the White Prince. The real tragedy of it all is the fact that it was just a big misunderstanding."

The Time Lord beamed with a smile that appeared to be forced. "Not bad, you know your history."

Sophie nodded, noticing the Doctor's suppression of emotion, but making the decision not to probe him about it. "Of course, Doctor. I'm a researcher after all."

"Now if only you and Szac can stop being so lazy…" The Time Lord shrugged. "Hmmm… Must be wishful thinking on my part."

Sophie's eyes widened with a start as she realized what the Doctor said. "Hey!"

The Time Lord shrugged, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Don't blame me for telling the truth, which is also…"

Sophie sighed. "…what the White Prince believes in, I know. Speaking of Virizion, this place isn't easy to find. People tend to discover it when they're, you know, _not_ looking for it. I'm guessing it's some form of defense against anyone who wants to catch and exploit Virizion's power. After all, the only thing standing between us and it is that wall of rocks."

Szac perked up. "But to catch Virizion, that person needs really strong Pokemon, right? It's easier if he has another Legendary Pokemon, but we all know how difficult those are to obtain."

The Doctor nodded. "Indeed."

"Well, I do hope I get to see Virizion, but that is probably wishful thinking since it attacks people. I'm certainly not going to try and get past that wall. It's likely suicide." Sophie cupped her chin in thought. "I have this bet going on with my brother. The first one of us to get solid proof of at least four of Unova's legendary Pokemon wins the recognition and respect of the other as a fellow researcher."

"Good luck with that, it sounds like a tall order." The Time Lord cast the rock wall a glance, turning his back on the girl. "Though if you don't respect each other already, you won't function well as a researcher. The trade is all about respecting and working coherently with your fellows. Too much competition makes things ugly and slows down everyone's progress. And believe me, there are a lot of occasions where you don't want that."

"You can be rather blunt, you know that?"

"So I've heard." The Doctor raised his head towards the sky. "It looks like Rustle's coming back now." True enough, the Pidgeotto appeared on the scene, flapping his wings frantically. "And it looks like he's found something, alright." He gazed piercingly into Rustle's eyes. "Did you?" The Bird Pokemon nodded, causing the Time Lord's expression to soften almost instantaneously. "Oh good. Lead the way then."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Cyber-ship Control Room, January 18, 2011, 4:15 p.m.)_

Regaining her consciousness, Amy blinked her eyes rapidly as her mind struggled to rid itself of the dizziness as it reconnected with the outside world. She brought a hand up to rub her eyes, a feat she found impossible. Looking down at her feet, she found that her wrists were shackled to the nearby wall, legs chained to the floor. A quick survey of her surroundings told her that she was currently imprisoned in a large room, with control panels lining a good portion of the walls. What most stood out to her was a medium sized steel door a few meters away. About ten Cybermen stood in various locations, tending to the control panels. The woman soon noticed her companions in the same state as her, along with a teenage girl she had never met before.

The woman did not have to wait long for answers, as her husband noticed her newly awakened state. "Oh, you're up, Amy."

Amy nodded. "How long was I out for?"

"About two hour. I came to earlier because I didn't get as much of a shock, and even then, that wasn't what knocked me out. The others are up already, by the way."

The woman's eyes widened as she noticed her egg case, resting on a table in the center of the room. She could only breath a sigh of relief that the Pokemon within had yet to hatch. She did not have to worry about it imprinting on a Cyberman just yet. Katrina rubbed her forehead. "Still groggy, Katrina?"

The girl squeezed her eyes shut. "A little. Are the Cybermen really going to turn us into more of them?"

Amy sighed. "I'm afraid so, if the Doctor doesn't come soon." The woman soon turned her attention to the girl she was unfamiliar with. "And who are you?"

The girl perked up. "I'm Jaclyn. The others already took me about you. I was captured by these _Cybermen_ yesterday while passing through Pinwheel Forest. They…" Jaclyn bit her lip, trying to stifle tears that soon flowed freely down her cheeks. "They…told me to come with them and when I asked why, they simply shot at me with their guns. I tried to send out my Vibrava to defend myself, but they k-killed h-her with just a few s-shots-s… My Pokemon's attacks did almost n-nothing a-against them… They b-brought m-me here, took the rest of my Pokemon away and c-chained m-me up here…" The girl wept. "My V-Vibrava-a's d-dead…"

The black barred Cyberman took notice of the conversions being held between the humans. "It would appear that you are all now awake."

Amy frowned as she noticed a Cybermat scurry along the table holding her egg case. "The Cybermats were once Pokemon, weren't they? Babies, right? You killed several Pokemon and turned their babies into these things… Your Cybermen killed Jaclyn's Pokemon. Don't you care?"

"Care? Why should I care?"

"Because all they want are babies to take care of, and you deprived them of that."

"I do not understand you, there are people dying all over your world yet you do not care about them **(13)**." The black barred Cyberman pointed at its head. "Our brains are just like yours, except that certain weaknesses have been removed."

"Weaknesses? What weaknesses?" asked Skylar.

The black barred Cyberman crossed its arms. "You call them emotions, do you not?"

"But, that's terrible! You mean you wouldn't care about someone in pain?"

"There would be no need. We do not feel pain **(14)**. Enough talk. You will understand our logic when we begin your upgrade. And you will be assimilated. You will become like us **(15)**."

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "Become like you?"

"Yes. Allow me to provide you with a demonstration of an upgrade." The black barred Cyberman gazed at Jaclyn. "We captured this specimen yesterday." The figure turned to the others in the room. "Activate the cyber-conversion unit."

A Cyberman moved to the steel doors, opening them with a start before facing the black barred Cyberman. "We obey, Cyber-Leader **(16)**."

The Cyber-Leader pointed at Jaclyn. "Seize her." Wordlessly, two Cybermen unchained the girl, hoisting her up by her arms.

Jaclyn struggled, futilely attempting to escape her captors, prompting them to tighten their grip. "No, no! You can't do this! Officer Jenny will catch you! She'll catch all of you!"

The Cyber-Leader turned to the other humans. "Ignore her illogical rambling. If this 'Officer Jenny' chanced upon this place, she too will become like us. Begin the upgrade." The two Cybermen roughly shoved Jaclyn past the open steel doors, beyond which, a chair awaited. The girl was forced into the chair, shackles locking her neck, wrists, and legs into position. A gun resembling a Cyberman's wrist blaster descended from the ceiling, dangling precariously close to the top of the girl's cranium.

Jaclyn's eyes widened in alarm. "No, no! Please!" The girl's pleading did little to move the steel figures as the gun activated, a red laser cutting into her skull. Unable to move due to the shackles, Jaclyn let out a continuous ear-piercing scream as the laser glided along the route of her corpus callosum. The odorous smells of burning hair, flesh and sinew permeated the room, sickening the human onlookers whose nasal passages they entered. Streams of crimson blood flowed out of the incision, dripping down Jaclyn's face and the sides of her head, staining her clothes red.

The Cyber-Leader watched the process, paying no regard to the disgusted looks of the human onlookers. "At this point, the skull is cut open in order to access the brain. It is necessary to hold the neck in place so that the specimen does not move too much, which may cause the laser to go off-route." Jaclyn soon ceased her screaming, falling quiet.

Amy glared at the Cyber-Leader. "We can bloody well see that! You don't have to tell us!" Katrina struggled to avert her eyes, but Jaclyn's piercing screams continued to penetrate her ears.

After the laser had done its job, two hooks dropped down and locked themselves into either end of the incision, prying aside Jaclyn's skull to expose her brain. Skylar winced as she heard the bone crack from the pressure induced by the hooks, as the brain came into sight. The two sides of Jaclyn's cranium broke away, clattering to the floor, blood pooling where they landed. Rory felt it a blessing that the girl had fallen unconscious from blood loss by this point, as she would not feel the pain induced by the rest of the process. Knives appeared next to cut the brain from the girl's head, as a Cyberman brought in a glass dome filled with red liquid, placing the pink organ inside.

The Cyber-Leader turned to stare at the humans. "The brain is extracted and then placed in a container of chemicals which can sustain it outside the human body." A suit of Cyberman armor was wheeled in on a cart by another Cyberman, as the Cyberman holding Jaclyn's brain opened the faceplate, lowering the organ inside, and connecting it to an artificial nervous system. The faceplate was closed, and within seconds, the suit of armor stood up from the cart. "With the brain being inserted into a cyber-suit, we now have an addition to the Cyberman race. An emotional inhibitor chip will suppress the trauma of the new convert and condition it to behave accordingly with Cyberman ideals." The Cyber-Leader then turned to face the newly created Cyberman. "You are designated Cyber-unit 13-114."

The Cyberman containing Jaclyn's brain replied. "Affirmative."

"You will assist with furthering the goals of our race."

"I obey." The new Cyberman walked off.

A Cyberman removed Jaclyn's brainless body from the chair, taking it away. The Cyber-Leader faced the remaining humans in the room. "The body will be repurposed and dissected. Its parts can be used to create additional Cybermats **(17)**. And now, your Pokemon will be converted. You will become like us."

Amy huffed, prepared to give the steel figure a piece of her mind. "YOU CAN'T JUST GO AROUND CONVERTING ANYONE YOU WISH!"

Skylar visibly tensed her frame. "Amy… Don't agitate them…"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Agitate them? Did you even listen to a word the Doctor said? Cybermen can't _feel_ anything! They deleted their emotions!"

If the Cyber-Leader still had its feelings, Amy would swear that it would have been intrigued by her statement. "Oh? And who will stop us?"

The woman narrowed her eyes. "The Doctor will!"

"You have identified yourselves as the Doctor's associates, which logically explains your knowledge of our race before you came in contact with us."

"That's right. Scared now, aren't you? And he'll be coming for us."

"Is that so? That must mean he is nearby. Thank you for identifying his location to us." The Cyber-Leader turned to its subordinates. "Cyber-units 13-094, 13-095, 13-096, 13-097, 13-098, 13-105, 13-106, 13-107, 13-108, and 13-114 will take twenty Cybermats and fifteen Cybershades to search the forest and delete the Doctor on sight."

A Cyberman moved to leave the room. "We obey."

Rory gulped. "The Cyber-Leader just sent almost half of the Cybermen in the spaceship after the Doctor…"

The Cyber-Leader stared at a screen mounted on the wall above the controls. "Units, open visual link." An image of the dense forest soon appeared, allowing those in the room to view the scene from the point of view of a Cyberman sent after the Doctor. "Visual contact established."

"Uh, Rory? You said that the Doctor has enemies who want to kill or imprison him?" asked Skylar.

The nurse nodded. "Yeah?"

"Would these robots happen to be among those enemies?"

The Cyber-Leader saw an opportunity to correct Skylar. "We are not robots. We are Cybermen. And now, you will watch as the Doctor is deleted."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Cyber-ship Clearing, January 18, 2011, 4:15 p.m.)_

The Doctor poked his head out of some bushes as he noticed a massive steel structure resting in the clearing a few meters ahead. The grass surrounding the structure was charred, as were a number of trees in the immediate vicinity. The Time Lord turned to Rustle. "You're saying this is where the others were taken by the Cybermen?" The Bird Pokemon nodded, prompting him to turn to his companions. "Alright, do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions and don't wander off **(18)**." The Doctor took a step backwards and turned to look ahead, quickly colliding face-first with a tree and collapsing in a heap on the ground.

Szac gazed at the Time Lord. "You alright?"

The Time Lord stood up slowly, gentle rubbing his forehead. "Ow! Thought I fixed that steering problem of mine. No matter. What matters, what _does_ matter, what _really __does_ matter, what _really, __really __does_ matter, what _really, __really, __really __does_ matter, however, is this." The Time Lord took out his sonic screwdriver, aiming it at the steel structure. He pressed the device's button for a minute before he pocketed it. "Hmmm… I thought so."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You thought what?"

"I'll explain later. Let's go before we're discovered." Szac and Sophie nodded as the followed the Doctor away from the clearing. "While traveling in space, the Cybermen crash-landed their spaceship in this forest due to some sort of mechanical failure, according to the reading I'm getting from the sonic. And now they're trying to find their way back into space. And to do that, they have two options."

"Which are?"

"Number one, fix the spaceship. Unfortunately for them, their manpower is limited, so they're going to need help. The solution? Go out into the forest to find passing travelers to capture and convert into more Cybermen for said help. Of course, as you and I know, those travelers will have Pokemon on them. While the attacks of most Pokemon don't do much damage to a Cyberman's armor, they can prove to be an annoyance, so what do they do? They take to stealing eggs from Pokemon nests. Owing to that sense of altruism Katrina mentioned, the parent Pokemon will go out and steal other eggs themselves to raise babies, occasionally taking some Trainer owned egg, like Amy's. The Cybermen are counting on this, and will steal those eggs as well, and may even kill the parent Pokemon in the process."

"So that means…"

The Doctor looked grim. "The Cybermen are the poachers operating in Pinwheel Forest that Katrina has been hearing so much about. In any case, the eggs hatch, the baby Pokemon inside imprints on the Cybermen and obey them, seeing the metal men as its parents. Since they have just been born, the minds of those babies are more malleable and they won't question instructions like an adult Pokemon may. The Cybermen take advantage of this and have the baby Pokemon go quietly and without resistance into the cyber-conversion chamber, where through the same process that turns people into Cybermen, the baby Pokemon are converted into Cybermats, essentially their pets. The Cybermats are capable of absorbing electricity, and that is how the Cybermen get power."

Sophie gasped. "That's awful! They've just been born and will never get to experience the world freely!"

"It gets worse. The Cybermen also go out and capture other Pokemon they find, simply shooting dead the ones that can escape easily, like that Mandibuzz we found. These captured Pokemon are subsequently converted into Cybershades, foot soldiers of the Cybermen. With the Cybermats and Cybershades to take out any resistance put up by passing travelers, the Cybermen now have an easier time capturing those people to convert. And also take their Pokemon to make more Cybershades. The idea is that the Cybermen will eventually have raised their numbers enough so that they can quickly repair their spaceship. The tragedy of it is the fact that all the parent Pokemon want are babies to raise, and the Cybermen basically robbed them of that by stealing their eggs, creating a cycle of hopelessness and despair as they try to gain some offspring by stealing eggs themselves, only for the Cybermen to take those eggs as well."

"Well, what's the other option?" asked Szac.

The Time Lord cupped his chin as they continued to move away from the site. "Number two, the Cybermen get in contact with other members of their species in space, hoping to reach a group that will come down here to offer assistance. However, according to the sonic, their communications systems were damaged in the crash, so they can't send a signal into space. That's something they're going to want to fix. Since this is the easier option, that is their priority. And it looks like they're almost done with that too. They could get in contact with other passing cyber-ships before the day is out."

"But what we have to do now is rescue the others before the Cybermen convert them."

The Doctor smirked. "Well, if Rory or Amy told the Cybermen that I'm nearby, we might not have to worry about that just yet."

Szac raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Plain and simple, the Cybermen want to destroy me. They're _not __afraid_ of me, they can't feel fear, but I've gotten in their way one too many times in their books."

"You've met them before?"

"Oh yes. Many times, in fact. Anyway, the Cybermen won't want to convert the others yet while they know I'm here. At least not until they're sure that I'm dead for good. They don't want to take the risk of me popping up and thwarting them again. And trust me, if they _did_ convert the others and I find out about it, let's just say that things will get really nasty for them, and they want to avoid that at all costs. Now to figure out how to rescue the others…"

Szac clicked his fingers. "How about this, Virizion's role is to protect Pokemon from people in emergencies, right? This is an emergency! I mean, going by what you said, the Cybermen are former people, and now they're killing or converting any Pokemon they come across. I'm quite sure Virizion will want to do something about that."

The Doctor spun around with a start. "You're suggesting that we lead the Cybermen to Rumination Field and trick them into attacking Virizion so the Legendary Pokemon would retaliate?" Szac nodded, "That is one of the most _RIDICULOUS_ ideas I have ever heard in all of my lives!"

The boy sighed. "I know. It was crazy and absurd, right? I should have known you'd reject…"

The Time Lord spoke, cutting Szac off. "Why didn't _I_ think about that? I like ridiculous, ridiculous is what I'm all about..." _"__Oh __yeah, __that__'__s __right. __Virizion __hates __my __guts __and __wants __me __dead__… __No, __scratch __that. __Virizion __hates __my __guts __and __thinks __I__'__m __dead.__"_ The Doctor ran ahead. "That settles it then. We're going back to Rumination Field!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "The Doctor's a researcher, right?"

"Uh, yes?" replied Szac.

"And researchers are professionals, right?"

"Eh, how else do they become researchers?"

"If you ask me, for a researcher, the Doctor is the most _unprofessional __professional_ I've ever met."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Rumination Field, January 18, 2011, 5:15 p.m.)_

Sophie cupped her chin. "Judging by the landmarks, it looks like we're close."

The Doctor nodded. "At least the Cybermen haven't found us yet." He perked up as he heard a loud clunking noise approach. "Nevermind, looks like I spoke too soon.

Ten Cybermen soon came into view. "You are the Doctor."

"Yup, that's me, alright."

A Cyberman raised its wrist blaster. "You will be deleted and your associates will be upgraded."

Sophie clicked her fingers. "Rustle, use Aerial Ace!"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "No!" His words were to no avail as the Pidgeotto swooped down, his frame surrounded in white streaks of light. The Bird Pokemon collided with the Cyberman's chest, only succeeding in knocking the cyborg back one step, dazing himself in the process. "Recall Rustle!" Sophie complied, sending the Pidgeotto back into his Pokeball as another Cyberman pointed its wrist blaster at the group, firing off a shot. The Time Lord shoved his companions aside, causing the red laser to burn the grass they had just occupied.

A Cyberman spoke. "Cybermats and Cybershades, emerge." Twenty Cybermats and fifteen Cybershades appeared from the nearby trees, knocking several aside in the process. As they did so, a swarm of small centipede-like creatures followed them, some falling from the trees. The creatures had a pronounced hump on the upper part of their bodies. Their front halves and rear ends were red, while their back halves were green. They had large yellow eyes, a pair of red antennae, two red tails, and four pairs of stubby black legs.

Sophie nodded. "A swarm of Venipede. Looks like the Cybermen disrupted their habitat. They weren't very quiet or discrete when they moved through the forest. I suppose we didn't have problems with them earlier because we were quiet."

Szac looked forward. "Well, now's our chance. Run!"

The two teens ran ahead as a Cyberman prepared its electric discharge, blue electricity cackling around its fingers. "Halt! It is illogical to escape." The Cyberman shot the bolt of electricity, only for the Doctor to dive in the way. The Time Lord cringed as he was struck by the attack, convulsing slightly for a few seconds before fleeing the scene with his companions.

Szac turned to the Doctor. "You okay, Doctor?"

The Time Lord nodded. "Just fine. It'll take a lot more than that to knock me out **(19)**. Now let's hurry!"

A Cyberman spoke out as it observed the retreating group. "Resistance to electric discharge by that male positively identifies him as the Doctor."

Each Venipede in the swarm created a brown ball of sludge in their mouths, soon firing them at the closest Cyber-creature. The attacks found their targets, splattering on the steel armor, but did little apart from creating a brown mess where they stuck. A Cyberman aimed its wrist blaster at the Centipede Pokemon. "Hostile elements will be deleted." The red laser from the weapon made its mark, blasting off a Venipede's head with one shot. The middle of the Cybermen's foreheads and the circles on their chests began to glow white, as intense white lasers shot out from those parts, each one successfully blowing searing holes in the bodies of many Venipede and the trees nearby. A few trees began to topple as Cybershades bashed their bodies into them, their structural integrity compromised by the bashings and cyber-weapons. The Venipede struggled to scatter as a tree fell on several of their numbers, flattening them. Green insect guts seeped into the soil under the fallen tree truck. A Cyberman scooped up a Venipede, closing its fingers down on its body. The Venipede was unable to shriek as it burst, its green insides splattering on the cyborg's armor. Another steel figure stomped down on a fleeing Centipede Pokemon, crushing it into a splatter in a second. A Cybermat opened its steel jaws, biting a passing Venipede in half. It proceeded to tackle another, knocking it into the path of a Cyberman's chest laser to be vaporized.

The Cybermen chanted continuously as they carried out their attacks on the Centipede Pokemon. "Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete! Delete!" Within minutes, the area was reduced to a mass of fallen trees, burnt grass, and mutilated Venipede carcasses. "Proceed and find the Doctor. He must be deleted at all costs."

His back leaning against a rock from the wall that marked Rumination Field's boundary, the Doctor crossed his arms as he saw the Cyber-creatures tasked to hunt him emerge into the clearing. "Well, you lot certainly took your time, didn't you?"

The Cybermen raised their wrist blasters, pointing them at the Time Lord's chest as their foreheads and chest circles took on a white glow. "Your associates repeatedly make illogical comments regarding their rescue by you. You are proof."

The Doctor relaxed his posture against the rock, flashing the Cybermen a cheeky grin. "Of what?"

"That emotions destroy you."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Yeah, I am. Mind you, I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion **(20)**."

"You have given your associates false hope, and now, that will be confirmed when they witness you get deleted."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, speaking of hope, here it comes." The Time Lord had a second to get out of the way as the Cybermen opened fire, blasting a portion of the rock wall into smithereens. Chunks of rock were blown into the field as the Doctor scrambled away, winching as some fragments pelted his back. Diving into a nearby bush, he peered past the leaves in time to hear a loud roar of anger. A quadrupedal creature trotted out from the opening in the rock wall created by the Cybermen, casting its critical glance on the cyborgs. It took a few seconds to survey the Cyber-creatures before its glare intensified. The Time Lord looked on from his spot in the bushes. _"__Virizion.__" _

Before any Cyberman could react, Virizion shot forward, rearing up on its hindlegs before bearing its frame down. Propelled by the force added through its mass, Virizion's forelegs punctured two holes in the chest armor of the nearest Cyberman. The cyborg sparked briefly before it went silent, the Grassland Pokemon having damaged vital systems required to sustain its life. Reacting with unusual speed, a Cyberman fired its forehead laser at Virizion, only for the Grassland Pokemon to seemingly vanish, causing the white laser to strike an untouched portion of the rock wall instead. The Cyberman who fired only discovered where Virizion went when it felt several dull thuds against its frame, prompting it to look down, finding that its armor now sported several crescent-shaped holes. Virizion reared its head back, before bringing it forward, sending a light green crescent-shaped leaf from its side horns to strike the damaged Cyberman, bisecting the cyborg's head. White liquid streamed into the grass as the two halves of the Cyberman's head hit the ground, its holey body falling backwards.

Seeing two of its comrades fall, a Cyberman pointed at Virizion. "Cybermats and Cybershades, attack." Two Cybershades charged Virizion, but the agile Pokemon leapt back, using the opening to grow a long, curved horn of energy from its forehead, the new appendage bathed in a green glow. It lunged towards the Cybershades, traversing the gap between them. As it ran between the Cybershades, Virizion brought its head down and smashed into the front of the Cybershade to its left, completely slicing it horizontally into top and bottom halves when it had run the duration of their length. The top half fell away from the bottom as the Cybershades. Before the other Cybershade could register what had happened to its comrade, Virizion pivoted upon its feet and ran back the way it came, relishing the sensation of its newly created horn striking the rear of the other Cybershade and running through its length like a knife through butter, consigning the creature to the same fate as the first Cybershade. Four Cybermats leapt at Virizion in a bid to stop its rampage, only to be cut to pieces upon contact with the glowing horn of the Grassland Pokemon. Eyeing another Cyberman, Virizion smashed its head into the cyborg's torso, pushing it towards the rock wall. The Cyberman grasped the sides of Virizion's head in a bid to weaken it by electrocution, an effort which proved to be futile as the Grassland Pokemon slammed its quarry into the rock, the impact severing the cyborg's waist and damaging its internal systems enough to kill it. Virizion crushed a Cybermat under its foot as it shoved a foreleg into the eye of a Cybershade, killing the creature instantly when the appendage penetrated the brain. Dodging a leaping Cybermat, Virizion struck a Cybershade with a deft movement of its head, its green glowing horn knocking a sizeable and lethal dent in the creature's mask before disappearing.

Sensing something amiss behind it, Virizion jumped into the air as several Cybermen shot their wrist blasters at it, the lasers only managing to scorch the grass it stood on. Tucking its head between its forelegs, the Grassland Pokemon somersaulted to the rock wall, soon scaling it with the aid of large chunks of rubble. Reaching a high point on the rock structure, Virizion leapt down on the Cyber-creatures, firing crescent-shaped leaves from its horns which cut through the armor and vital life systems of two Cybershades, spelling their deaths, and sliced three Cybermats into metal shrapnel. A Cyberman attempted to nail Virizion with a blast of its chest laser, only for the Grassland Pokemon to take advantage of the close quarters combat, disappearing from sight. The white laser struck another Cyberman, burning a large hole in its chest before it fell still. Dodging multiple lasers shot at it, Virizion proceeded to kick a Cybershade twice in rapid succession with its forelegs, knocking the creature into a Cyberman, sending both in a sprawling heap. Its face wrinkled in irritation as it felt teeth chomp onto its foot, looking down to see a Cybermat latched on a hindleg. Frowning, Virizion lifted the limb and struck it against a tree, crushing the offending Cybermat. A Cybershade charged at the Grassland Pokemon, but Virizion used its natural agility to get away, resulting in the Cybershade smacking into the tree. Recreating another horn from its forehead with green energy, Virizion slammed it into another tree, bringing the tree down on the Cybershade's back, the creature too dazed to react. Reappearing in front of the downed Cybershade, Virizion brought its foreleg up, prying off the Cybershade's mask. Behind it was a glass container filled with chemicals, housing a brain. The Grassland Pokemon wasted no time in smashing said container with its green horn, allowing the chemicals to drain and the brain to flop onto the grass, where it was stomped to a bloody pulp by Virizion.

The Grassland Pokemon proceeded to kick aside a Cybermat, smashing it to pieces on the rock wall, before being struck in the side by a Cybershade. Regaining its composure, Virizion deliberately allowed itself to fall to the ground as its generated forehead horn disappeared, and in the process, kicked out the Cybershade's legs, causing it to fall on top of the Grassland Pokemon's frame, just as a Cyberman shot its forehead laser. The laser hit the Cybershade in the face, vaporizing its head, as oil leaked out of the cut neck. Kicking off the dead Cybershade, Virizion pounced before it could be hit by a Cyberman's chest laser, the attack blasting a gaping hole in the Cybershade's carcass. Noticing a Cyberman about to point its wrist blaster at it, Virizion dashed towards the cyborg, adding propulsion to its charge as a new horn of green energy emerged from its forehead. The Grassland Pokemon whizzed past the Cyberman's right flank, before backing around and running past its other side. Before the Cyberman realized it, its hands dropped to the ground with two dull thuds, severed from the wrists by Virizion's sharp horn. Facing the Grassland Pokemon, the Cyberman attempted to fire its chest laser, but Virizion was swifter in its charge, its horn tearing a large gash through the Cyberman's waist as it dashed pass, almost cleanly bisecting the cyborg. Losing the stability its waist once held, the Cyberman crumpled to the ground, where it could see Virizion headed towards it one more time. The cyborg made one final attempt at an attack, trying to utilize its forehead laser. It would not get such an opportunity, for Virizion struck the cyborg's neck with its green horn, almost decapitating the Cyberman. While the loss of a Cyberman's hands was no big deal, for it could easily obtain replacements, the severing of its artificial spinal cord was the last straw that deprived it of its life.

Three Cybermats fell from the trees, landing on the Grassland Pokemon's back, biting down on its flesh, startling Virizion into losing the concentration required to maintain its green horn, the appendage disappearing as a result. Virizion narrowed its eyes as it rolled onto its back, knocking the Cybermats off and enabling it to avoid a hit from a Cyberman's wrist blaster. Hastily standing again, Virizion dispatched the three Cybermats with quick stomps of its feet on their small frames. Sidestepping a Cybershade headed in its direction, the Grassland Pokemon shot several crescent-shaped leaves from its horns at another Cybershade, hacking off scraps of the creature's fur. Virizion shot forward, hooking its horns with the gaps in the bars of the Cybershade's mask. Reacting quickly, the Grassland Pokemon pressed its forelegs against the Cybershade's front, kicking away the creature and ripping off its mask. Additional razor sharp leaves from Virizion's horns shattered the Cybershade's brain container and sliced the organ to small scraps of tissue which fell on the grass, causing the Cybershade to go still.

The mask of the last Cybershade it killed still latched onto its horns, the Grassland Pokemon shot off more leaves from its horns, cutting up the thin bronze metal. The shards of bronze flew at four Cybermats with speeds that matched those of a Ninjask at its fastest, hacking their bodies to shreds where they struck, and reducing the creatures to little more than scrap metal. Hissing, Virizion leapt over a Cybershade, a horn of green energy renewed on its forehead. Striking a Cyberman in the neck with the appendage, the Grassland Pokemon derived a certain satisfaction as it heard a dull thud on the grass, followed by the Cyberman's headless body crumpling into a limp heap. The Grassland Pokemon sidestepped another Cyberman's electric discharge and leapt over a shot from the cyborg's wrist blaster, landing gracefully on its feet. Virizion bowed its head as close to the ground as possible when it heard a stampeding Cybershade approach, ensuring that its head and neck will be in the space under the creature's body when the approach was completed. Sure enough, Virizion's calculations proved correct. Smirking, the Grassland Pokemon shoved its head up with a start, returning it to its natural position. While its light frame did not allow its physical strength to come close to that of Terrakion, Virizion was still strong enough to catapult the Cybershade up into the air with the simple action. The Grassland Pokemon leapt after its quarry, its controlled rise and more streamlined body enabling it to exceed the Cybershade in altitude. Thrusting its forelegs out, Virizion kicked the Cybershade twice in a downward motion, sending the creature straight into the ground, leaving a small impact crater where it had landed. If the Cybershade was not already dead, the Grassland Pokemon ensured that outcome, tucking its legs in and slamming the full weight of its 440.9 lbs frame on the Cybershade's head and neck, a loud crunch signifying its success in crushing them.

Virizion thrust a foreleg in the space under the legs of another Cybershade, using the limb to trip up the creature. Flipping the Cybershade over, the Grassland Pokemon brought its glowing green horn down twice on the creature's stomach, cutting through fur and steel to hack the creature into three parts. Virizion's smirk grew wider as oil seeped into the grass from the Cybershade's carcass. One less foe for it to worry about. The Grassland Pokemon soon made it four as it dispatched the last Cybermats, crushing one under its foot, kicking another to pieces into the hard bark of a tree, and knocking the third onto a rock, Virizion using its foot to press down on the Cybermat and grind the creature along the hard surface, the scrapes breaking off segment after segment of the Cybermat's body until not one was connected to another, its death slow. Virizion had a split second to leap away from the rock where it performed its last kill, bursts of laser fire from Cybermen smashing the rock into rubble. The Grassland Pokemon soon recovered from the surprise attack, a kick sending a Cybershade into the path of the lasers, the creature meeting its end as it was blasted repeatedly with the searing attacks from its own handlers, which pocked more holes into its frame than Virizion would care to count. Nimbly avoiding the charge of another Cybershade, Virizion appeared to vanish, only to reappear right next to the creature, stabbing its green horn of energy into the Cybershade's side. The Grassland Pokemon twisted its head in the same manner a human would with a sword when he has stabbed a foe with it, widening the Cybershade's injury. Lifting a foreleg, Virizion stabbed it in a spot next to where its head had left a mark, a smirk gracing its face as it felt the limb punch through fur and steel to penetrate the Cybershade's innards. The Grassland Pokemon retracted the limb and stabbed the Cybershade with it again and again, watching the creature succumb quickly to the repeated stab wounds, oil leaking out of the artificially created openings.

Ducking to prevent a Cyberman's wrist blaster shot from hitting its horn, Virizion slashed the cyborg across the chest, noting the sparks of blue electricity coming from the gash. The Grassland Pokemon rushed behind the Cyberman, another kick sending the cyborg face first into a puddle of oil leaking from the systems of the last dead Cybershade. Virizion watched in morbid fascination as a spark from electricity escaping the disabled Cyberman ignited the oil, red flames soon sprouting up to engulf the cyborg in its searing embrace. With the gash on the Cyberman's chest compromising much of the flame-resistant protection offered by its armor, fire entered the wound, ravaging the cyborg's vital systems, quickly melting their parts into an indecipherable silver puddle which pooled out from its body, proceeding to evaporate into the atmosphere from the heat brought on by the flames. Despite the very real possibility of it losing another home to fire, Virizion kept its unnerved composure as it dispersed the energy that composed its green forehead horn, flinging itself directly into the scorching flames, towards the end where it extended into the undergrowth. The blaze expanded as it captured more spilled oil into its fuel reserves, but the Grassland Pokemon continued to run through the heat, ignoring the flames that licked at its frame. Reaching the blaze's limits and dropping to the ground, Virizion began to roll its body along the flames, allowing its frame to soak up the fire, despite its inherent weakness to that form of energy. This was a process it repeated until it managed to smother half of the flames and prevent their expansion. The Grassland Pokemon was reassured that any burning ground put out by rolling its body would not ignite again, as the fire had already consumed all available material there was for it to burn. Virizion need not worry about any trees being ignited, constant care from park rangers ensured that the amount of dry, dead wood was kept at a minimum, as they were easy stepping stones for such a blaze. Much of the trees in Pinwheel Forest had a good amount of vitality in them, that state allowing them to retain water and make themselves more resistant to catching fire. Their barks may wind up scorched, but that would be a cause for little concern. On its other end, the blaze was stopped in its tracks by the rock wall that marked the boundaries of Rumination Field. Dashing to the wall and using its forelegs to propel the structure's rocks forward, Virizion shot them into the blaze. As each rock fell on a patch of burning grass, it choked out the fire that it landed upon. After sending a few rocks into the flames, Virizion began to knock them over into more burning grass to kill the rest of the fire, doing so while dodging attacks from Cybermen, their armor offering a good degree of protection from the heat and flames.

Slight pants escaping its lips, the Grassland Pokemon emerged from the ordeal slightly winded, black scorch marks on its frame standing out in stark contrast to the natural green and white colour of its flesh. Its reflexes compromised by its burns, Virizion cringed as it felt slight burning sensations strike it nine times in the side in rapid succession, quickly turning to see the Cybermen with their laser weapons aimed at it. The Grassland Pokemon narrowed its eyes as its thoughts began to wander. Although the cyborgs could not longer feel emotion, a not so scrupulous human would revel to see Virizion in this state. Unfortunately, humanity was rife with such lowly individuals. Virizion gritted its teeth, sickened of such people. One man had taught it to trust them in general, but a person like him was few and far between in the human race. The Grassland Pokemon snarled as it remembered the fact that it once trusted him deeply, until he turned out like the rest of them. Nevermind that those cybernetic constructs may have killed humans, they _used_ to be humans. To be brought down to this state by them, Virizion considered it utter humiliation unbefitting for a member of the musketeer trio. In its defense, the Grassland Pokemon was ambushed. While its comrades would easily forgive this setback, for its part, Virizion could not forgive itself for showing the Cybermen weakness.

Its thoughts providing a momentary distraction, the Grassland Pokemon took a second to perceive the two remaining Cybershades charging at it. Virizion gazed at them solemnly, its eyes betraying genuine remorse. Not that the Cybershades could detect it, being every bit as emotionless as the Cybermen. While the creatures were once Pokemon, with a level of intelligence that could come near a human's, the Cybermen had taken their brains and engineered those organs to obey simple commands, and little else. Small wonder their battle strategies consisted of little more than charging at a target to incapacitate, capture, or kill it. The fact that Virizion's fight would mean the death of those creatures brought a small comfort to it, an offer of escape to the Cybershades from forced slavery to their cybernetic masters. To the Grassland Pokemon, a trip to the afterworld by its administered euthanasia would let their souls find peace. With deep regret, Virizion steeled its resolve and seemingly vanished into thin air, forcing the Cybershades to halt their advance. The Grassland Pokemon made it clear that it was not done however, as it reappeared, slamming the side of its body into a Cybershade, shoving the creature's form into the other. The two cybernetic creatures slid across the grass, coming to a stop at the rock wall. Gritting its teeth slightly from being hit repeatedly by laser weapons from Cybermen, Virizion increased the pressure it was imposing on the Cybershades, smirking as it heard a loud crunch from one of them, then the other. White fluid and oil drenched the grass under the rocks as the frames of the Cybershades were being compressed by the Grassland Pokemon, in a manner akin to a human squashing an insect, creating wounds by which said liquids could escape. When it sensed that the creatures' bodies would not be squeezed any longer, Virizion stepped away from their flattened frames, allowing their bodies to fall away from the rock onto the grass.

The creatures that accompanied them now taken out of the equation, the three remaining Cybermen intensified their fire, creating obstacles by which Virizion swiftly dodged. Knocking a Cyberman onto its back, Virizion stabbed a foreleg into the edge of its chest circle. The Grassland Pokemon slid its limb along the circle like a can opener, quickly cutting it from the cyborg's chest. Close to removing the circle completely, Virizion pried it upwards like a soup can's lid instead, immediately noticing a black computer chip underneath. A gentle tap shattered the piece of hardware, as the Cyberman began to twitch, its voice quickly losing the monotone and beginning to sound like that of a teenage girl. "W-Who a-am I-I? W-Wait, I r-remember-r now-w. My n-name i-is J-Jaclyn Kinclad-d. I-I was traveling in P-Pinwheel-l F-Forest y-y-yesterday a-and w-was-s t-taken b-by… They k-killed m-my-y Vibrava and they p-put m-me i-in… N-No! S-Stop! Stop, p-please-e-e-e! NNNOOOOO!" The cyborg's shrieking ceased as its head exploded in a shower of metal and white liquid, some of it splashing on Virizion's face. The Grassland Pokemon shook its head in absolute disgust to rid itself of the liquid, before slicing the dead Cyberman's circle completely off. Virizion kicked the metal circle into the air, watching as the projectile lowered to its face level, before dealing out another kick that sent it flying towards another Cyberman with the speed of a bullet. The metal circle punched its way clean through its target's chest, coming out the other end. The Cyberman lowered its wrist blaster and seized up, falling dead on its back into the grass.

Virizion eyed its last quarry, as the sole remaining Cyberman realized its situation. "Retreat! Retreat is imminent!" The cyborg turned and made to flee, but the Grassland Pokemon gave chase, closing the distance between them in less than a second, and rearing on its hindlegs, slammed its forelegs into the Cyberman's back, knocking the cyborg to the ground face first with two dents in its armor. Virizion advanced, placing its forelegs on the Cyberman's back to prevent escape, immediately noticing that the cyborg was attempting to reach behind and raise its wrist blaster in a bid to point the weapon at the Grassland Pokemon's head. With a glare, Virizion raised its right foreleg and smashed the limb into the back of the Cyberman's head, penetrating the armor and stabbing directly into the cyborg's flesh and blood brain. A smirk graced the Grassland Pokemon's visage as it felt soft tissue weakly give way to the force of its stab, feeling no resistance whatsoever. The Cyberman quickly slumped and fell still on the grass, a thud accenting the finality of its demise. Extracting its limb, Virizion took a few steps back from the lifeless cyborg, saliva building in its mouth. Overwhelmed by an intense feeling of disgust, the Grassland Pokemon spat upon the Cyberman's metal corpse, watching as the saliva ran down the surface of its armor and flowed towards the grass. Turning its back on the scene, Virizion reared its head back and let out a shrill howl that echoed for miles.

Peeking out from a nearby bush, the Doctor surveyed the scene, turning to Szac and Sophie. "Of course, Virizion recognizes that the Cybermen are once human and it despises humans. It knows that they did some damage to the forest and its Pokemon, and if there is anything Virizion can't stand, it's humans destroying Pokemon habitats. Now that it has seen those Cybermats and Cybershades, Virizion's furious. It also recognizes that they were once Pokemon, but were converted by the Cybermen. The Cybermen killing those Venipede and destroying a small amount of forest doesn't exactly help matters for them either. After all, Virizion has made protecting those Pokemon its life's goal. I mean, you saw it throw itself into a fire just to put it out." _"__I __would __have __loved __to __help __put __out __that __fire, __but __that __would __mean __Virizion __spotting __me. __And __I __can__'__t __risk __that __yet.__"_

Sophie paused. "That Cyberman… It said its name was Jaclyn…"

"That? Virizion destroyed the Cyberman's emotional inhibitor chip, causing its brain to recall memories of its past life as a human. Its emotions overloaded when it realized that it was no longer human and its brain just couldn't take it. It blew up."

"How sad…"

Szac sighed. "Not that Virizion cares…"

The Doctor nodded. "Can you blame it?"

"The White Prince caused it to feel that way towards humans."

Sophie huffed. "Well, it wasn't his fault!"

The Time Lord shushed his companions as he heard the cries of many Pokemon sound out from the forest's trees in response, Virizion craning its neck to listen. "All the Pokemon nearby are now rallying with Virizion. Those Pokemon know where the wrecked cyber-ship is and will lead Virizion to it so that the other Cybermen and their servants are, to put it in their own words, _deleted_." The Doctor gazed at the Grassland Pokemon's retreating form, Virizion vanishing into the trees in seconds. "There are many things that the Cybermen can't understand or comprehend due to turning off their emotions. One of which is how passionately Virizion believes in protecting Pokemon habitats from people who would exploit them."

"So will the others be okay?" asked Szac.

"I think we better see to that, just in case Virizion kills them too."

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Cyber-ship Control Room, January 18, 2011, 6 p.m.)_

The Cyber-Leader turned away from the screen as the visual link was cut off upon the death of the last Cyberman sent to kill the Doctor. "Another threat to our security has been detected. Activate the cyber-conversion unit for the imminent upgrades of the humans."

A Cyberman marched forward, stretching its arm out towards Skylar, blue electricity emitting from its fingers. Without so much as a spoken word, the cyborg shot the discharge at the girl, causing her to convulse violently in her restraints, her shrill voice forming screams which bounced off the steel walls of the chamber before unconsciousness silenced her.

Amy glared. "Why did you do that? She couldn't even fight back!"

The woman's outburst bought her the Cyber-Leader's attention. "Depriving future converts of the ability to resist conversion is the logical course of action."

Katrina closed her eyes. "Virizion's coming here, and it's fast. It'll be here soon."

Amy gritted her teeth. "Considering what it did to those Cybermen, I dunno if I should be optimistic for our chances."

A Cyberman walked up to the Cyber-Leader. "Repairs to the communications systems are complete. Communication with any cyber-ships in the vicinity is now possible." No sooner had those words left the cyborg's vocal systems did the wrecked cyber-ship begin to tremor, an immense force marching within its structure, forcing the humans to grasp their chains to avoid sliding down the floor and bruising their wrists and legs from the tension of being held in shackles.

The Cyber-Leader jerked its head upwards. "Emergency. All Cyber-units to investigate the intrusion in the cyber-ship. Repeat, all Cyber-units to investigate."

"We obey."

All the Cybermen left the room as the Cyber-Leader walked to the controls, pressing a button before directing its head to the nearby mounted microphone. "Emergency. This is cyber-ship 45-028 requesting immediate backup and rescue from all available cyber-ships in the nearby proximity." As the Cyber-Leader spoke, the humans cringed as they heard the sound of crunching metal and steel bodies hitting nearby walls. "Location identified as 'Pinwheel Forest' in a region known as 'Unova', situated on an as-of-yet unidentified planet. We have reestablished contact after a recent emergency crash landing in the area." Echoing with pronounced taps, loud but fleet footsteps begin to approach the room. "The presence of the Doctor on this planet has been confirmed, in addition to a potent threat identified as…"

The Cyber-Leader was unable to utter another word, for Virizion burst into the room, bearing a curved horn upon its forehead that shone with an illuminating green aura. The cyborg was only able to turn around and perceive the Grassland Pokemon before it charged, slamming the edge of its horn into the Cyber-Leader's chest. Backing its head away for a split second, Virizion soon swung forward, digging its horn into the steel armor of the cyborg, puncturing the metal. A further upward swing was enough to send the Cyber-Leader's head straight into the screen above the controls, glass shards and electric sparks showering the floor at the Grassland Pokemon's feet. Releasing the Cyber-Leader, Virizion leapt backwards, shooting several crescent-shaped leaves from its horns. The razor-sharp appendages of botany pelted the damaged screen and battered cyborg. Striking a particularly exposed section of electronics, a leaf sliced through a cluster of wires, exposing the means by which many more sparks leapt out into the air. Normally contained and housed within separated components of the screen, chemicals essential to its function leaked across circuit boards, courtesy of Virizion's leaves, intermingling into a volatile solution. The Grassland Pokemon turned its back on the scene as sparks hopped into the liquid mixture that would make a pyromaniac cry with joy. The temperature in the room increased exponentially as the ruined screen exploded, engulfing the Cyber-Leader and the controls in flame. Virizion closed its eyes calmly as it felt the searing heat waft over its back, refusing to betray the fact that the hot air aggravated its burns all over again, the injuries having previously been reduced to numbness until now.

Opening its eyes, Virizion noticed the room's human occupants for the first time, its face wrinkled in confusion at their restraints. Glancing to the side, it saw Amy's egg case placed on a table in the center of the room. Its facial expression soon contorted into one of distaste as it moved to slowly advance on them. Held in place by her compromising position, Amy seized up as Virizion took a slow step forward, and then another, unsure if the Grassland Pokemon wanted to help or harm them. Before Virizion could move any further, Rory pointed desperately behind the Grassland Pokemon, making a bid to obtain its attention. "Virizion! Look out behind you!" Its visage contorting in suspicion, Virizion took a split second to evaluate for itself whether the man was attempting to deceive it, before realizing that even if that was the intent, there was little he could do in his bound state.

Turning its head in the direction Rory's finger pointed, the Grassland Pokemon soon came face-to-face with the standing Cyber-Leader, its metal armor and the controls around it burning, having been doused with flammable chemicals. The cyborg had raised its right arm, its wrist blaster exposed and pointed at Virizion's neck. Its forehead and chest circle took on a gleaming white sheen, lasers prone to fire at the Grassland Pokemon's body. Casting its eye on the humans for a second, Virizion briefly nodded its head towards the floor before it seemingly vanished as the cyborg fired its laser weapons. Taking the Grassland Pokemon's hint, Rory shoved his wife and Katrina to the floor, trying to make their frames as low as possible. The lasers struck the reinforced wall behind them, leaving intense black scorch marks. Virizion reappeared at the Cyber-Leader's side, knocking the cyborg to the floor with a charge. Raising a foreleg, the Grassland Pokemon smashed the limb against the cyborg's neck. The metal put up a brief moment of resistance before buckling and being sheared through, detaching the Cyber-Leader's head, which Virizion proceeded to callously kick into the fire. Flames rushed into the skull of steel from its bottom, incinerating any organic tissue within and evaporating the chemicals that surrounded them. Normally soot black, the Cyber-Leader's eyes and mouth lit up red from the fire within, before the flames breached the thinner metal they were composed of, creating orifices which offered more ready access to the life giving atmosphere.

The Grassland Pokemon let out a deep breath as the last cyber-creature dwelling in Pinwheel Forest was slain by its hooves. Remembering the reason it could avoid said cyber-creature's last attack, Virizion turned to stare at Rory, its gaze piercing directly into the nurse's inner depths.

Katrina looked up, still reeling from the shock of Rory pushing her down. "Rory, you helped Virizion…"

The nurse nodded. "Even if Virizion is this Pokemon that hates humans and attacks when one approaches it, I guess I just had to show it, show it somehow that not all humans have ill intent towards Pokemon." Virizion's eyes widened as it processed those words, its mind wandering to a period in its life that it considered a better time.

_Its legs prancing as fast as they would take it, Virizion raced forward through the winding passages of a cave which was eroded deep into the heart of a rocky mountain, eventually finding its destination, where the rock-hewn corridor terminated into a massive chamber with seemingly no way out except from the corridor the Grassland Pokemon had just traversed. Tilting its head back, Virizion nodded, a visual cue that it had succeeded in its minor task._

_A voice soon spoke of its approval. "Ah, you found the place, Virizion. Great!" The sound emitted from two sets of clunky footsteps trailing behind the Grassland Pokemon served as a reminder that it was the swiftest of its brethren. Noticing its company coming into view, the elegantly framed Pokemon stepped aside, allowing two creatures to overtake it, one possessing a rugged stocky build, the other with a form that belied an unceasing impression of nobility. Dressed in regal robes and settled on the back of the latter creature was a man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. "Not many people know of a quick and easy, clean way through the mountain to get to the peak, so I say it was a stroke of fortune that I found this cave system, hmmm?" The creature serving as the blonde haired man's mount snorted, causing its rider to huff. "Yes, Cobalion, you can simply scale the mountain's face, and I would not put it pass you to do so, but this is less strenuous, no?" _

_The stockily built creature grunted, attracting the blonde haired man's attention. "Ah, that is an excellent question, Terrakion. The four of us are in a cave that terminates in a dead end, how do we get outside to reach the peak? In my previous travels here, I have discovered that the rock wall between here and the outside is relatively thin, so all we have to do now is knock that wall down and it will be a short trek up the mountain face to get to the peak. It is a good shortcut compared to climbing the entire mountain by just its face." The blonde haired man dismounted Cobalion and took a few steps forward, stretching out an arm towards the wall of rock. Taking a deep breath, he soon generated a cobalt-blue sphere of energy from his palm. Launching the sphere, he watched as the attack struck the wall, knocking a small hole into its surface area. Admiring his handiwork with a whistle, he soon narrowed his eyes as he heard the sound of chortling behind his back. "Oh, you think that is funny, Terrakion? What do you mean by 'A Joltik cannot even get through that hole', eh? I do not see you trying!" Despite his current inability to see the Cavern Pokemon's facial expression, the blonde haired man was definitive that Terrakion was smirking. The blonde haired man heard a scoff. "Sure, but can you prove it, hmmm?"_

_A stomping of feet was enough of a cue for the blonde haired man to step aside as Terrakion dashed ahead, demolishing the wall in a single charge. Sliding out onto an outside ledge, the Cavern Pokemon observed as several large boulders fell down the face of the mountain. Turning around to face its brethren, Terrakion shot the blonde haired man a smug look, causing the man to mutter several inaudible but disgruntled words under his breath before he regained his composure. "Alright, so you can knock a wall down with one charge. Now why do I suddenly feel worried about my castle?" The blonde haired man huffed as Virizion let out a chuckle. "Eh? Very funny, Virizion. I will have you know right now that my castle's walls are the most secure in the region, and not shoddy workmanship at all!" The Grassland Pokemon grunted, prompting Terrakion to snicker. "No, I would rather not test that by having Terrakion run into them! Now we could spend all day arguing about this point, but I would rather we see what I wanted to show you, hmmm?" Cobalion nodded, silencing its brethren with a strict glance, as it immediately stepped forward to allow the blonde haired man to mount it again. Exiting the opening created by Terrakion, the musketeer trio proceeded to leap up the face of the mountain, jumping up rapidly ascending jutting ledges until they felt the soles of their feet hit firm level rock on the peak. _

_Allowing himself to slide off Cobalion's frame, the blonde haired man strode forward, holding his hands behind his back. "You know, not all humans desire to harm your fellow Pokemon. In fact, the very thought of it repulses them. In fact, many actually love the company of Pokemon, and have a deep-seated desire to befriend and work with them. I would say that both people and Pokemon are indeed better off in working with each other." Sensing the quizzical glance shot at his back from the Iron Will Pokemon, the blonde haired man pointed southward, his vantage point offering him a spectacular view of a distant settlement. "See that, hmmm? Just a few years back, that town was reduced to a smoldering ruin, courtesy of my brother. And now, it is well on its way to becoming a proper settlement again, under new rule, of course." The blonde haired man sighed. "My brother murdered the lord that once governed the town, then a fort, when he conquered the rest of the region. Now, I can safely say that it has grown into a town, larger and more populous than the fort it once was, with a sustainable mining industry and port. I named it 'Driftveil'._

_The blonde haired man turned to stare in the westward direction, prompting the gaze of the musketeer trio to follow, where another settlement could be seen after viewing several miles of rolling hills and untamed landscape. Its north and south were also framed by additional mountains. "Nestled between three mountain ranges, that fort was a small principality thought to be extremely secure from invasion, and for good reason. The mountains are difficult to traverse, and it would take quite a while to access the fort on the back of a flying Pokemon. Hosting large numbers of flying-type Pokemon itself, the residents were sure that they could use those Pokemon to spot any invading force from hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. Unfortunately, the population became complacent and isolated due to these natural defenses. They certainly did not receive many travelers due to the distance. Well, that left them unprepared when my brother swooped over the mountains on our dragon in a matter of minutes and invaded. That dragon had power the likes of which none of the residents had ever witnessed before. In less than a day, that fort, like Driftveil, was reduced to burnt wood and rubble. The ground was littered with human and Pokemon bones when I first went there. But like Driftveil, it has built itself back up over the last few years, and I have given it the name 'Mistralton'."_

_Turning to look north, the blonde haired man pointed out a third settlement to the musketeer trio. "That town suffers the harshest winters among the settlements in Unova. Just as well that it is built on high ground. If my calculations are correct, winter comes four times every year. The buildings there would have been buried by snow in that case. Looking back, I can tell that the founders of that fort endured a lot of hardship to build up their settlement, what with winter being an inappropriate time to build and all that, albeit the season is mercifully short. They had to focus on both building structures and storing food for the winter all at the same time, and they managed quite well. Like Mistralton, they had a natural defense, the harsh winter which deters many travelers. What happened to all that effort when my brother came knocking? He demolished everything in one foul swoop! And he did it close to winter too! If I did not show up, the winter would have claimed several of the people who survived my brother's onslaught. Like the other two settlements, this one is turning out nicely now, and has grown beyond its previous size. I call it 'Icirrus'."_

_Virizion let out a grunt, catching the blonde haired man's attention. "Why am I showing you lot all of this? Yes, I know people built them, but none of that would have been possible without the aid of Pokemon assisting those people. And look, under one united banner, the towns are now larger and more prosperous than they had been as independent forts. That is the power of unity, an indelible truth that happens when people and Pokemon come together! Loathe as I am to say it, my brother may have had a point in conquering the entire region." The blonde haired man cleared his throat, returning to a previous topic of discussion. "I know you think humans are greedy with their demolition of Pokemon habitats for resources and land. I know that my brother was the greediest of them all, he wanted the entire region! If you would believe me, I never wanted all of this, but now, I am likely the only person standing between my brother and the people. He would have stained the region black with ideals in an instant if I was not around." The blonde haired man chuckled briefly. "Of course, he accuses me of trying to do the same thing with truth and turn Unova white. Admittedly, he has a point with his ideals, and I have a point with my truth. He may think he is right and I am wrong while the reverse applies for me. We seem like enemies to each other, do we not? But right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It is our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Truth and ideals…" The blonde haired man drifted off for a second before continuing. "When I first started out, I was simply the governor of Castelia, and now I have become the ruler of Unova. I have become the region's 'White Prince'..." _

_The White Prince reached for his head, removing a crown crafted from an unusual white metal, examining it carefully, handling the item as if it could glow intensely hot in seconds and scorch his hands to ash. "I know that the people love me, they have made that point clear several times over, but what good is this crown if it was given to me by force? Sometimes, I cringe on the inside when people called me 'White Prince' or even 'sir'! I cannot even abdicate, my brother would swallow up the people in a heartbeat if I did!" The White Prince held his crown aloft in one hand, making to hurl it from the top of the mountain. Before he could do so, he felt the gentle press of a foot upon his shoulder. Peering back in confusion, his eyes soon met those of Cobalion. Squeezing the fleshy lids over his orbs of vision shut, the White Prince let out a deep sigh, one that appeared to have been held back for years as he pressed the crown to his chest. "You are right, the people need me, and the Pokemon of the region need the three of you. You may distrust humans in general, but your trust of me is proof that any Pokemon can work with any person."_

_The White Prince lowered his head slightly, replacing his crown on his head. "But rest assured, the natural habitats with the largest concentrations of Pokemon will be well-protection. I will personally see to it, especially your home near Icirrus. I will make sure that as few people enter it as possible, and those that do will tread carefully. The forest is a sanctuary for many Pokemon, and I hope it remains that way for many generations to come. The forest is located to the north of Route 8, and I know for a fact that you certainly do not need to go through it to reach any settlement. That should make it easier to maintain the forest's status as a Pokemon sanctuary. There are admittedly, people who want to harm and exploit Pokemon, but there are many more that want to protect and save them. Unfortunately, those people occasionally find themselves at the mercy of the ones who wish to take advantage of Pokemon. Face it, criminals do not enjoy the righteous interfering with their business. Just mull over what I said when you consider relationships between people and Pokemon. Well, shall we head back now?" Terrakion and Virizion nodded, while Cobalion grunted, prompting the White Prince to perk up. "Eh? This place? Since it is close to Mistralton, I have called it 'Mistralton Cave'."_

The Grassland Pokemon soon found itself leaving its reverie as Katrina spoke. "Well, the White Prince tried to show Virizion that opinion as well, you know. But because of him, Virizion despises humans." Virizion sighed as it began to recall another distant memory.

_Searing red flames quickly clouding its vision, Virizion perked up as the cries of several terrified Pokemon reached its ears. Briefly perceiving the fire consuming all plant life its influence reached, the Grassland Pokemon bolted in the direction of the shrieks, quickly noticing a group of Pokemon attempting to flee the scorching blaze. Gazing up into the sky, Virizion snarled as it noticed a massive black cloud cloaking half of skies above, shaped like the eye of a hurricane, with blue bolts of lightning sparking from it, threatening to start a thunderstorm. The other half boasted clear weather with several small scattered white clouds, a large white draconic form clearly visible in their midst. The Grassland Pokemon quickly diverted its eyes as a large blue lightning bolt shot towards the ground, nearly grazing its side. _

_The Grassland Pokemon's ears rose in attention as they heard a soft and elegantly smooth masculine voice speak from the skies. "I am the emissary of the White Prince! In the name of all that is righteous, this will end now!"_

_Another masculine voice chortled, contrasted from the first with its loud volume and deep, guttural overtures. "Righteous? Do not make me laugh. Look at what you have done to the forest!"_

"_You killed my master, Zekrom!"_

"_As you killed mine!" The deep voice spoke, with hints of immense anger evident on its speaker's lips. "I do not see what is so good about your master anyway, the man was a pathetic weakling of a pacifist."_

_The elegant voice began to narrow in tone, sounding venomous. "My master was more virtuous than you will ever be!"_

_The deep voice disregarded the comment from the other speaker, shifting its tone to sound fonder. "Anyway, you used my name… I like it when you use my name."_

"_Is that so? Then savor that feeling, for it is the last pleasurable thing you will feel!"_

"_Incidentally, I do not intend on granting you the same pleasure."_

_The elegant voice sounded outraged, as if its speaker was restraining itself from shouting. "I happen to like my name!"_

"_Should you? Your master gave it to you, but do you even know what it means? It could very well be Khaled language for 'offal'."_

"_What? Why you…"_

_The deep voice laughed. "Did I get you riled up? It would be a pity if you make another bad move down there, if you know what I mean… Then again, you have made plenty of them all over Unova."_

"_Silence! You insulted my master, you insulted my name, and you insulted my intentions! In the name of my late master, I will personally throw you to the Signer Dragons so they can rip you apart!"_

"_Do not make me laugh! Your destiny is to be sent to the netherworld, where the Earthbound Immortals will consume you for what you did to their guardian! And I will be the messenger that takes you there!"_

_The elegant voice snorted, a snide tone leaking into its speech. "Want to try me? I can reveal our location to the Dragon Star right now and have the Signer Dragons descend upon you."_

"_Do that, and I will open a portal to the Netherworld for the Earthbound Immortals to emerge. You will be the one who brings more destruction upon this planet!"_

_Virizion snarled as it continued to run, the two voices from above drumming into its ear canals, foiling attempts by it to block them from its mind. Its eyes widened as it noticed a torrent of fire approach several frantic Pokemon, framed by a wall of rock behind it, halting their advance through the burning undergrowth, cutting off their supply of oxygen and causing them to feel faint. Without a second thought, the Grassland Pokemon darted through any intermediate flames and in front of the blaze, shielding the Pokemon with its frame. Winching as the fire licked at its white skin, Virizion reared its head back and howled, allowing the physical and mental pain it felt to punctuate its vocalization, making the cry shriller. Before long, the Grassland Pokemon was relieved of this duty as a large form charged into view, slamming into the rock wall and knocking it apart. Terrakion grunted in annoyance due to the feeble resistance put up by the earthen structure in response to its bulk, as if complaining that the wall had the potential to be stronger. Rolling its eyes, Cobalion stepped through the inferno, staring at the Pokemon before diverting its gaze forward, beckoning them to follow it to safety. The creatures soon complied, obediently trailing behind the Iron Will Pokemon as it walked down the path cleared by Terrakion. _

_Breathing a sigh of relief, Terrakion and Virizion looked on as their leader and its charges disappeared from their field of vision, the knowledge that the Pokemon's safety was ensured vested in them. Before they could revel in their newfound sense of accomplishment, another cry pierced the flames, carried to their aural range with an instrument crafted from the voice of a young, inexperienced, and terrified being, forcing Terrakion and Virizion to stare at each other in bewilderment. Wasting no amount of time, the two members of the musketeer trio raced off in search of the voice, disregarding any obstacles that stood in their path. As Virizion ran, eleven words crossed its mind, intensifying the anger coursing through its veins. A quick glance at Terrakion was enough to tell the Grassland Pokemon that its comrade shared the same eleven words as a sentiment._

'_The White Prince of Unova is nothing but a hypocritical traitor!'_

Virizion found itself returning to the situation at hand when it heard Rory's answer to Katrian's comment. "That was a misunderstanding, I'm sure. If Virizion knew the White Prince well, and that certainly seemed the case, I think it can conclude eventually that he wasn't completely at fault. His dragon destroyed the Moor of Icirrus, yes, but he was dead by then. And besides, it was pursuing Zekrom. I am also of the thought that Virizion had a good idea of the Black Prince's personality, and knew that the man was vile."

The Grassland Pokemon raised an eyebrow as Amy began to mutter. "Well, whatever you say, just don't anger Virizion, okay? It can hear us." Virizion snorted in response as it resumed its forward pace towards the restrained humans.

The Grassland Pokemon walked right up to Rory, causing the nurse to sweat slightly in discomfort as a Legendary Pokemon invaded his personal space before coming to a stop. Letting out a quick breath, Virizion raised its left foreleg up, before bringing the limb down on the chain holding the nurse's right leg, severing the metal restraint with a liberating clang. The quick movement was repeated with the chain holding Rory's other leg before the Grassland Pokemon turned its attention to the chains connecting the nurse's wrists to the wall. Its forehead horn glowing green, Virizion swung it into the chains, a satisfying sound of snapping steel sounding where horn met metal. The chain links still attached to his restraints now slackened, Rory stepped away from the spot he was held at for the last few hours, massaging his wrists and legs to try and relieve himself of the cramps that resulted from inactivity. He noted that the shackles were still around his limbs, but it was a minor issue that the Doctor could resolve easily with the sonic screwdriver. Virizion moved quickly, freeing the rest of the humans in the same manner before shooting Rory a brief look. Looking past its emotionally ambiguous visage, the nurse stared into the Grassland Pokemon's eyes, attempting to glimpse into its soul. Before he could make any progress in the matter, Virizion turned its back on Rory and ran, exiting the room in the same manner it came.

Rory bent down to pick up the unconscious Skylar, making to follow the Grassland Pokemon. "Well, I don't think there's much else here for us now. We'd better go out and meet the Doctor. I'm sure he'll be headed back now."

Amy nodded as she retrieved her egg case from the table, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness my egg hasn't hatched yet. I shudder to think about what would have happened if it did, you know?"

Katrina shook her head. "I wouldn't want to think about that at all." She turned to Rory. "By the way, it looked like Virizion took a glance at you. I wonder what it was thinking."

Rory scratched his head. "I'd like to know the answer to that myself. No use thinking about it now."

Amy sighed. "I feel sorry about Jaclyn. I mean, we saw her get cyber-converted and then killed by Virizion on the screen."

"Well, there wasn't much we could do about it anyway, the Cybermen had us chained up. As for Virizion, it simply lumped her with the humans turned Cybermen who harmed the forest, since she happened to be one of them. I can't say I approve of Virizion's behavior, but it held a deep grudge, alright. Jaclyn was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but then again, you could say that for _all_ of the people who were converted by Cybermen."

"What about the Cybermats and Cybershades? Virizion killed them and yet they were once Pokemon or animals."

"I suppose Virizion saw them as already dead and unable to be rescued. They were so indoctrinated with the ideals and motives of the Cybermen that even if freed, they would still try and continue their cyborg masters' message by killing or attempting to convert other creatures. Besides, there is no way to reverse the cyber-conversion process. No way to bring the Cybermats and Cybershades back to their former selves. No doubt Virizion felt a tremendous amount of regret in having to kill them."

Katrina perked up. "By the way, while I must say that I've never seen anything like the Cybermen before, why were they so intent on killing the Doctor? What did he do to them in the past?"

Amy chuckled slightly, wrapping her arms tighter around her egg case. "Three words, Katrina. 'Stop them. Repeatedly.'"

Rory cleared his throat. "Well, I think we should go outside now and wait for the Doctor to come." Receiving nods of agreement from his companions, the nurse proceeded to lead them through the corridors of the wrecked cyber-ship, passing the corpses of several Cyber-creatures in the process, ostensibly dispatched by Virizion.

No sooner did they step out into the open that a familiar voice spoke out from the nearby trees. "Well hello, you lot!"

Amy's eyes widened as a wide smile graced her face. "Doctor!"

The Time Lord walked out into the clearing, followed by Szac and Sophie. "Well, we were coming to rescue you and all, but it seems that you got out just fine."

"Yeah, well, it was all because of Virizion."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Virizion saved you?"

"It went to the cyber-ship, killed all the Cybermen inside, and then freed us before leaving. Speaking of Virizion, where did it go anyway?"

"I would assume that Virizion went back to Rumination Field to repair the rock wall there before hiding inside again." replied Sophie. "After all, it came out here because of the Cybermen."

"So anything you lot did that caused Virizion to help you?" asked the Time Lord.

Amy cupped her chin. "Rory said that the White Prince tried to show Virizion that humans weren't all bad, and some tried to help Pokemon. He also mentioned that what the White Prince's dragon did to the Moor of Icirrus was an accident when it was pursuing Zekrom. I think what Rory said triggered something in Virizion. Deep down, maybe Virizion wishes it could trust humans again, but has an apprehension or fear that it may be further deceived by them."

"You know, that's completely possible." The Doctor smiled as he turned to Rory. "Good on you, mate." He scratched his head as he noticed the unconscious girl in the nurse's arms. "Oh, what happened to Skylar?"

"She got shocked by a Cyberman, they were going to convert us after they saw Virizion kill the bunch that tried to delete you. Luckily, Virizion intervened."

"I see. Well, the local Pokemon here should be experiencing much fewer instances of egg theft, which means they won't have to steal from humans anymore to meet their altruistic desires. The reports of people disappearing in the forest should drastically go down as well."

Sophie perked up. "What about the cyber-ship and all those dead Cybermen in the forest?"

The Time Lord smiled. "Oh, I think Virizion will take good care of that matter. I doubt it wants evidence of them ittering the forest. Anyway, good thing Amy's egg hasn't hatched yet, and the Cybermen didn't do any harm to it." Amy smiled in response, before the egg in question began to rattle against the glass of its case. The Doctor's eyes widened. "Well, go on, take the egg out!" The woman complied, calmly setting the egg with its cushion on the grass.

"At least Amy is more composed about an egg hatching than Rory was in the Accumula Town Pokemon Center." deadpanned Szac.

Rory's face turned red in response. "Hey! In my defense, all that stuff was new to me."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "A Pokemon egg hatching is _new _to the assistant of a famous researcher? Now _that__'__s _new. I question where you have been for the first part of your life."

Katrina clapped her hands together repeatedly. "Oh, this is so exciting! I wonder what the egg will hatch into?"

Sophie shrugged. "We'll find out in a few seconds." Amy's egg glowed white as it then began to morph its shape into a small creature that bore a resemblance to moth larvae. Its head and thorax were covered with white fuzz, with a brown elongated abdomen protruding from the back. It had small blue eyes visible through a black slit across the fuzz on its head, and three short pairs of black legs. Framing the top and sides of its head were five orange, slightly curled horns.

The Doctor beamed. "A Larvesta. Well, these Pokemon are rather hard to come by in the wild. You'll certainly find most of them in the hands of Trainers. But when they evolve, and that's only through lots of effort, patience, and affection, you'll have quite a fiery creature on your hands." Amy held up her Pokedex to scan her newest Pokemon.

_Larvesta, the Torch Pokemon. The base of volcanoes is where they make their homes. They shoot fire from their five horns to repel attacking enemies._

The woman put her Pokedex away. "You know, I'm still sad about losing Munna, but getting this uh…"

The Time Lord cleared his throat. "Your Larvesta is female, Pond."

"…little girl and rescuing her from the Cybermen might just give me some hope that the same can happen for Munna after all. I think Virizion also walked away with the hope that humans do have some good in their hearts." Amy knelt down onto the grass, scooping up her Larvesta, an action to which the newly-born Torch Pokemon responded to by shooting small red sparks out its horns, causing the woman to cough as they flared up near her face.

Katrina chuckled. "Well, I think we can all agree that Larvesta has some personality." The Doctor was the first to burst out into laughter, followed by the rest of his companions save for Skylar. Amy tried to display a grumpy front on her visage, but eventually succumbed to the laughs herself, quickly forgiving her new Pokemon for the mildly explosive display of power.

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Picnic Site, January 18, 2011, 11 p.m.)_

His legs crossed into a sitting position on the grass, the Doctor eyed a slowly dimming campfire as he surveyed the site the group had chosen to stop for lunch earlier in the day. He smiled slightly as he heard the subdued but distinct rumbling sounds of the fast asleep, basking slightly in the knowledge that he was the only one still awake. _"Alright, since there's little chance that I'll be disturbed at this point, I guess I can take another look now."_ Reaching into his backpack, the Time Lord retrieved the steel box he had obtained at the Nacrene Museum, opening the lid and thumbing through the sheets of typed paper in the box's manila folder. Putting aside the cover page he had already read, the Doctor's attention immediately shifted to the next page in the order. The Time Lord sighed as he lifted the paper to the light provided by the fire, allowing the natural source of energy to illuminate the typed words.

* * *

_-1-_

_L: I hereby call this meeting to order. Is the secretary ready to transcribe the minutes?_

_O: I am._

_L: We will begin with roll call. Will the Vice of the Oubliette Squad please read the members' list to see if anyone is missing?_

_K: I will. Please answer when I call your name. M?_

_M: Yes._

_K: L?_

_L: Yes._

_K: F?_

_F: Yes._

_K: I?_

_I: Yes._

_K: O?_

_O: Yes._

_K: O?_

_O: Yes._

_K: T?_

_T: Yes._

_K: R?_

_R: Yes._

_K: L?_

_L: Yes._

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Picnic Site, January 18, 2011, 11:05 p.m.)_

The Doctor replaced the sheet of paper in the box with a roll of his eyes. _"__What __are __they, __preschoolers? __They __can __see __that __they__'__re __all __present__… __What __a __pointless __waste __of __my __time __to __look __over __their __roll __call. __What __a __good __way __for __them __to __lower __my __already __bad __impression __of __them__…" _

The Time Lord proceeded to take in hand the white feather that was held in the box, staring at the small piece of biological matter with a curious mix of wonder and guilt on his face. He tilted his head back, letting himself stare deeply into the nighttime sky above as his thumb ran itself along the length of the feather's rachis, the shaft's smooth texture providing a relaxing feel to its holder. The Doctor's thumb brushed the vane of the feather as it traversed the rachis, the tactile sensation from each individual barb performing a duty of soothing the Time Lord as his eyes began to water. _"__After __all __this __time, __I __finally __have __another __piece __of __you. __If __only __you __knew __how __much __I __missed __you__…" _The Doctor smiled sadly, a teardrop running down his left cheek. _"__So __much __that __it __hurts __sometimes __when __I __think __about __it__…"_

Letting out a sigh, the Time Lord placed the feather back into the box before stashing the box in his backpack. He stood up, taking a few brief steps towards the tree growth, staring deep into the expanse of Pinwheel Forest. _"__Virizion__… __You __hate __me, __don__'__t __you? __I __can __sense __it __from __behind __those __rocks __at __Rumination __Field, __and __to __be __honest, __I __don__'__t __blame __you __at __all. __One __of __my __greatest __regrets __is __that __I __barely __tried __to __stop __him __when __I __could, __when __I __could __have __prevented __all __of __this, __or __at __least __lessened __its __impact. __I __should __have __done __more __for __you, __more __for __you __and __your __comrades. __Because __of __us __foolish __and __irresponsible __Time __Lords, __you __and __your __comrades __no __longer __have __a __home __where __you __once __did __and __separated __to __find __new __dwellings. __You __shouldn__'__t __have __had __to __go __through __this. __You __all __trusted __me, __trusted __me __with __your __lives. __I__'__m __not __going __to __shirk __responsibility __for __any __of __this. __I__'__m __not __going __to __run __away __anymore. __Nothing__'__s __like __before, __regardless __of __warnings, __the __future __doesn__'__t __scare __me __at __all. __You __have __every __right __to __be __angry __at __me, __but __it __is __my __hope __that __you __will __soon __understand __what __really __happened, __and __that __I __can __regain __your trust in me once again."_

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I must apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out, so I hope its length makes up for this. It is the longest chapter I have written to date. The truth is that my workload is piling up, and starting in early December, and for at least the next few months, I won't even have time to be on this site except on weekends. The weekends would also be the only time I have to write, review stories and communicate via PMs, so your understanding is greatly appreciated in the matter. And so, I apologize in advance if I do not immediately respond to any communication, but I will try and do so when I get on the site. Being able to only have free time on the weekends, I will attempt to get out a chapter a month on average, but it depends on the chapter's length and how free I am, of course. As you can see, this chapter features an alien race from Doctor Who. The Cybermen are one of the two iconic enemy races in the series, alongside the Daleks, and frequently secure the second place position in popularity polls on Doctor Who aliens, as well as lists of favorite Doctor Who aliens, right behind the Daleks. Speaking of the Daleks, I am toying with the idea of featuring them in a future chapter. I often thought that I wouldn't write such a chapter, out of concern for possibly confusing readers not familiar with Doctor Who, but I was convinced otherwise, and I think it worked out somewhat. I have to say, I hit a slump for ideas for this chapter, but I managed to write now. This chapter is an amalgamation of ideas from a few people, so credit goes to Master of the Boot for suggesting that the chapter feature Cybermen and Virizion, AceTrainer777 for coming up with the idea of the Mandibuzz stealing Amy's egg and the altruistic motivation as to why parent Pokemon steal eggs, and yuukifan001 for suggesting that someone in the group gets kidnapped and a bug Pokemon swarm attacks the other group members. Here's this chapter's glossary, and the one with the most entries yet.

(1) Vampires were parasitic, long-lived creatures who inhabited countless worlds across the universe, and beyond. They descended from the Great Vampires, massive humanoid aliens that existed in ancient Gallifreyan times, and reproduced by infecting other life forms. They subsisted on blood, and it was their means of infecting members from other species. Time Lords shared 98% of their genes with Vampires as their founder, Rassilon, was a Vampire himself. Rassilon deliberately allowed himself to be infected by a Great Vampire after realizing that the Time Lords had reached an evolutionary dead end, and that was the only way they could continue surviving and evolving.

(2) The Saturnyns were an aquatic species of alien from the planet Saturnyne, who masqueraded as humans in the episode "The Vampires of Venice" by using perception filters. This technology unintentionally gave them vampire-like traits, and they were capable of converting humans to members of their species by draining the human's blood and replacing it with that of a Saturnyn.

(3) The Doctor seems to view "life" as more or less equivalent to "sentience". That is, if someone has been taken over by an outside force and there's absolutely _no way_ of getting the real personality back, then the Doctor views him as already dead. Many of the Doctor's more notable enemies including the Daleks and the Cybermen, fall within a race which has become homogenized to the point where individuality is almost completely obliterated, which is a sense that the individual is clearly important to the Doctor's conception of 'life'.

(4) Mondas was the original home planet of Mondasian Cybermen, and sharing an orbit with Earth, had many species that were analogous to those on Earth.

(5) More specifically, Mondasian Cybermen retained their organic head and torso under their steel armor, while limbs, not being essential for life, were removed and replaced with cybernetic alternatives.

(6) The removal of emotions was employed as a coping mechanism by Cybermen after they had been converted, as the emotional trauma from the conversion and the knowledge that the Cyberman was no longer human would interfere with said Cyberman's performance.

(7) The Doctor's first incarnation died as a cause of the Mondasian Cybermen's attempt to drain energy from Earth, as the machines they used to transfer energy from Earth to Mondas siphoned off too much of his life force.

(8) Travel between universes became nearly impossible after the near extinction of the Time Lords, as they were the ones who kept the portals between universes open and had the capability to open such portals.

(9) Alternate universes were realities created naturally when historical events diverged from a main timeline. Depending on the universe, some had very minor or very major differences from the one that the Doctor inhabited.

(10) "Delete" was a euphemism for "killing" employed by the Cybermen.

(11) Amy had encountered Cybermats in the video game "Blood of the Cybermen", though this is not reflected in the television show.

(12) Cybermen are vulnerable to strong electromagnetic pulses, which are capable of disabling their systems and killing them.

(13) This exchange was spoken between a Cyberman and Polly Wright, a companion of the Doctor's first and second incarnations, in the serial "The Tenth Planet" over the Cybermen's lack of care with regards to humans.

(14) This is another exchange between the Cyberman and Polly in the serial "The Tenth Planet" over how Cybermen deemed emotions to be a weakness that must be removed.

(15) This is a common phrase for the Cybermen, effectively summing their goal in a nutshell.

(16) Distinguished from other Cybermen by the black bars on its head, a Cyber-Leader was a Cyberman converted for the purpose of leading several Cybermen.

(17) While commonly formed from converted animals, small children, or babies, Cybermats could also be created from any spare body parts that the Cybermen happened to come across.

(18) This line was spoken by the Doctor to the young Amy in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" shortly after he first met her, as he struggled to gain his bearings from his recent regeneration.

(19) The Doctor, and by extension, other Time Lords, has shown high resilience to, and little ill-effects from, electric shocks, so much so that an electric discharge from a Cyberman that would kill a human just merely stuns him for a few seconds.

(20) This exchange was spoken between a Cyber-Leader and the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the episode "Doomsday" when the Cyber-Leader criticized the Doctor's adhereance to emotions and how he made his companions firmly believe in them. The Doctor responded with the fact that hope was a good emotion to have, right before the Cyber-Leader was killed by his allies.

Well, the door's still open for me to accept OCs, and it will be until the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City. In this busy period of my life, reviews help to assure me that people are still reading and enjoying the story and therefore provide more motivation for me to write the next chapter. I'll need the support it since my updating will be slower from now on. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**Dedicated to the memories of Gerry Davis (1930-1991) and Kit Pedler (1927-1981).**

**For credits:**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**


	31. Consider Catching a Caterpillar

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"__Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar__." _– Bradley Millar

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 31: Consider Catching a Caterpillar**

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Tree Growth, January 19, 2011, 10:35 a.m.)_

His left foot compressing the grass underneath, the Doctor whistled a short tune as he trudged ahead through the forest growth. Stopping short of exiting a clearing, the Time Lord halted his pace, inhaling deeply. "Ah! Can you hear that?"

Amy rolled her eyes, shuffling her feet slightly into the grass with the goal of ridding her bare legs of the morning dew running down their length, transferred to their epidermal surface from the thin blades of short green foliage. "All I can hear is the sound of your noisy footsteps. You're not the most discrete person in the world, Doctor."

"No, but I must say, I'm definitely the _smartest _**(1)**. In this world, that is. Anyway, I meant the chirping of the bug-type Pokemon. Their cries echoing through the forest! What vitality you can discern from those sounds! A clean bill of health for the bond they have with their habitat!"

Rory perked up. "What sort of bug-type Pokemon do you hear? A Kricketot?" The nurse soon found himself under the immediate scrutiny of every member in the group save for Amy, Szac, and Katrina. Rory stuffed his hands in his pockets, his face belying visible discomfort at the three raised eyebrows in his direction. "What? I heard someone at the Nacrene City Pokemon Center say they were exotic."

Sophie shrugged. "There are no Kricketot in Unova."

Skylar scratched her head. "Exotic? Kricketot are one of the most common species of Pokemon around."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Skylar is right. Kricketot are found quite widely in Sinnoh. This, however, does not, and I repeat, _does not_ detract from their position as _very, very, very_ fascinating Pokemon nonetheless." The Time Lord beamed as he continued. "I could spend hours and hours and hours just sitting there and watching, no, listening to those things chirp their merry tunes through the grass of a forest. Just going chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! CHIRP!" Chuckling at his surprisingly realistic rendition of a Kricketot's chirp, the Time Lord cupped his chin, his manic energy diminishing as he adopted a contemplative expression. "However, come to think about it, Kricketot _are_ considered exotic to the people of Unova, by virtue of the fact that there aren't any that live here naturally. Then again, so is any Pokemon that isn't native to Unova… And there are many…" The Doctor broke off his train of thought, shifting the subject matter. "Anyway, since we were delayed yesterday by the Cybermen, I suppose we have to speed up a bit to get through Pinwheel Forest and reach Castelia City by tomorrow at the latest. Don't want to spend too long dilly-dallying when even more exciting sights await."

Szac perked up. "Aren't you part of the reason we're slowing down, Doctor? You veer off the path to look at passing Pokemon and random trees and plants."

The Doctor turned around to face the boy with a start. "Well, in this world, as in any other world, there is no shortage of sights to see. There's plenty to find! Sewaddle, Venipede, Whimsicott, Lilligant, and even Virizion! Just to name a few! I believe what happened yesterday is absolutely, positively, undeniable proof of that!" The Time Lord stared smugly at Szac, silently daring his companion to come up with a suitable retort.

Before Szac could respond to the Doctor's unspoken challenge, Katrina slipped her frame between the two. "Uh, can we all just calm down and move on? I mean, we won't gain anything from standing here and arguing."

The Time Lord shrugged, turning his back on Katrina. "Alright then, on we go! Chop chop!"

Amy rolled her eyes with a groan. "Can we rest for a bit?"

"Feet sore, Pond? Well, here's motivation." Reaching into a pocket of his tweed jacket, the Doctor retrieved a flash card, adorned with the image of a large, radiant moth-like creature. Radiating outward from its white fuzz covered thorax, the creature possessed six orange leaf-shaped wings, a black head with blue compound eyes, and two red projections from the sides of its neck, with its body terminating in a blue abdomen with a black stripe down the middle. Protruding from the fuzz on its thorax were four stubby black legs.

The woman perked up at the image on the card. "What Pokemon is that? It's very beautiful."

"Volcarona. Centuries ago, these Pokemon were regarded as the mythical offspring of the Sun. Their immense rarity in the wild certainly helped to feed that image. The presence of one in the sky was enough to illuminate the landscape for miles and miles. Shrines to these Pokemon dot the region, but many are now in ruins. A Volcarona is rumored to reside at the ruins of the Relic Castle, but no one has been able to find it. May have been living there for centuries… Yes, they can be quite long-lived. And if you want to know how this pertains to you, Volcarona is the evolved form of Larvesta. Your Larvesta will eventually become a Volcarona if you train and love it enough, and it has that desire to evolve."

Amy gazed at the card held by her imaginary friend. "Oooo… I think I want one now."

"You do, hmmm? Well, you won't get one if you remain unmotivated in traveling and finding opponents for Larvesta to train against. It can take a long time for a Larvesta to evolve, let me tell you." The Doctor tossed the card to his companion, who caught it between her fingers. "You can keep that. I got it for you anyway. Stare at it whenever you want to quit walking and ask yourself if that action will bring your Larvesta closer to a Volcarona or not."

Katrina perked up. "I think that's a good goal to strive towards, Amy. Volcarona are a rare and powerful species of Pokemon after all."

The Time Lord took a step forward, making to continue his onward pace, before he was stopped by Rory, the nurse leaning in to whisper to the Doctor. "Good plan."

The Doctor beamed. "Figured she would like the idea of getting a rare Pokemon if she worked hard enough for it." He continued forward, before receiving a rude interruption as a small figure swung down from a nearby tree attached to the overhanging branch with a length of white silk, unceremoniously colliding with the front of the Time Lord's face. The creature in question bore a resemblance to a caterpillar, with a large head in proportion to the rest of its frame. The top part of its head was yellow, joined to a white lower mandible, an orange mouth with two protruding fangs bridging both parts. A green thorax and abdomen trailed behind its head, with six stubby, orange legs underneath. The creature's head was capped with a green bonnet crafted from a leaf, bite marks on its edges to define its unique curvature. Stunned by its unusual meeting with the Doctor, the creature dropped from its thread of silk, landing on the forest floor. Raising its head to stare at the cause of its fall, it spat copious amounts of sticky silk threads from its mouth, which proceeded to settle around the Doctor's head in a tight cocoon, blocking his facial features from sight. Stunned by the sudden onslaught of silk, the Time Lord stumbled backwards, falling on his rear end as his feet slipped on the wet grass. Without so much as a response, the creature turned tail and ran, its leafy body quickly blending in with the grass.

Rory stared awkwardly forward, his mind still attempting to process the disorder that was a few seconds old. "Okay, who's that Pokemon?"

Skylar shrugged. "A Sewaddle. I wonder what the Doctor taught you and Amy, or didn't, for that matter. The disparity of knowledge between you and him is the largest I've seen for any researcher and his assistants so far."

Amy narrowed her eyes, mentally preparing herself to respond in turn to the girl's comment, when a feminine voice shouted out behind her. "Sewaddle, hey, wait up!" The woman spun around, immediately noticing a panting girl run into her field of vision. Amy sidestepped the approaching figure, preventing the girl from slamming into her torso. Unfortunately, in doing so, the woman failed to keep the girl from hooking her foot into a tree root, tripping face first onto the grass in the process. Amy peered down, able to take a good look at the girl's short 5'3" frame strewn across her feet. At fifteen years of age, the downed girl wore a red tank top, with a strapless short suit hugging her 145 lbs body. The top of the suit was white, soon giving way to blue below her chest. The suit terminated at the girl's thighs giving way to white tube socks that covered the remainder of her legs. Red shoes covered her feet, with white arm warmers covering her lower arms. The girl raised her head slowly with a groan, her maroon hair covering her amber eyes, two low ponytails dangling from the back of her head.

Katrina cupped her mouth with her hands. "Oh my, is she okay?"

Rory eyed the dazed girl. "Maybe a few bruises. I don't think she broke anything, that's for sure."

Another feminine voice tore through the trees in the group's direction. "Muyoko!"

Sophie stared over her shoulder. "Looks like she has company." Two additional people soon ran into the group's field of vision. One, a 5'3" girl of nineteen years and 151 lbs who was a bit skinny with blue eyes and long indigo hair ending in a large ponytail, and the other, a 5'5" fifteen year old scrawny boy weighing 120 lbs with dirty blonde hair that obscured much of his visage and dark brown eyes. The girl wore a stern expression on her face, clothed in a yellow sleeveless jumpsuit with a messy black vest on top, along with pink high heeled boots with yellow heels. The boy wore a blue Chinese styled silk shirt with red baggy pants and red shoes.

The girl rushed over to her fallen companion, helping the other girl to her feet. "Muyoko, are you okay?"

Muyoko nodded. "I'm fine, Al. Don't worry."

Al's face remained stern. "Good. I wouldn't want to wind up carrying you out of the forest."

Muyoko immediately perked up, remembering the reason she had fallen to begin with. "You're so mean… Wait, where's Sewaddle?"

"I assume you lost it. That would be your fault now, wouldn't it?"

"Aw man!"

"You only have yourself to blame, Muyoko."

Muyoko turned her head, immediately noticing the Doctor, whose face was still covered in Sewaddle's silk threads. "Oh, by the looks of that guy, it seems that the Sewaddle was just here. Do you know where it went?"

Sophie pointed forward. "Try going that way."

Muyoko grinned in response. "Thanks! Come on, Nigey, Al." She tore off into the forest growth, her two companions quickly following after her without so much as a parting word to the group.

The Doctor's hands tightened around the silk encapsulating his mouth, soon tearing away the obscuring material to regain his ability of speech. "That guy? THAT GUY? I HAVE A NAME, YOU KNOW!"

Amy had a smug look on her face. "Yeah, and it _isn't_ 'John Smith'."

Szac scratched his forehead. "Wait, the Doctor's real name isn't 'John Smith'? What is it then?"

"I don't know, but trust me, there are plenty of people out there who would kill for that _little piece of information _**(2)**."

The Time Lord huffed. "Oi! My name isn't a 'little piece of information'!" His hands pulled away the silk covering his left cheek as he grimaced, his self-inflicted burn mark coming into view. "Blimey, fire… So fun to look at, but bad for the skin **(3)**!"

"You tried to use fire to _shave_, Doctor." replied Rory.

The Doctor flung a particularly sticky piece of silk from his fingers. "Yes, and I would have succeeded if it wasn't for your wife." He ripped off the last of the material around his face. "Anyway, I believe that lot need a hand. They're going to scare away that Sewaddle at the rate they're going."

Amy sighed. "Always poking your nose into someone else's business, eh Doctor?"

Skylar stared in the direction the three travelers departed the scene. "Well, a researcher's job is to help people learn more about Pokemon, as well as ways to catch them."

Katrina beamed. "I think it's great that the Doctor wants to lend a hand."

The Doctor took a step forward. "Indeed. Now, shall we?"

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Tree Growth, January 19, 2011, 10:55 a.m.)_

Narrowed her eyes in intense concentration, Muyoko creased her face as she focused on the Sewaddle in front of her, its back pressed against the bark of a tree. "Alright, Sewaddle. No more running away this time. You're coming with me." Between the girl and the Sewing Pokemon stood a Golem, his right fist punching his open left palm with a confident smack.

Rory stepped out from the low-lying foliage behind Muyoko, dusting stray leaves from his clothes. "I'm going to assume that girl wants to catch Sewaddle."

"And the Doctor couldn't resist but watch." added Amy.

Sophie shrugged. "Well, this could prove interesting."

Muyoko pointed at the Sewaddle with a start. "Golem, use Rock Throw!" The Megaton Pokemon nodded as his punched the ground, cracking the rock beneath the soil and sending its shards flying towards Sewaddle. In response, the Sewing Pokemon swiftly spat out a length of silk which affixed itself to an overhanging branch, pulling itself above the range of the Rock Throw.

Al crossed her arms. "Think fast, Muyoko!"

"No good… In that case, use Stone Edge." Rings of white energy surrounded Golem as they separated into sharp spikes of brown rock, orbiting the Megaton Pokemon's frame. A deft flick of Golem's right arm was enough to send the earthy projectiles spiraling away from their progenitor, headed for the bug-type Pokemon. Unable to move effectively from its position, Sewaddle was forced to watch as one rock severed its length of silk, sending it down to the ground. "Alright!"

Szac cupped his chin. "That Sewaddle looks like a tricky one."

The Doctor beamed as he ran his fingers along his burned cheek. "That goes without saying. Pokemon come in all forms of personalities describable! You could try to make a list and you still won't be close to done after centuries, no, millennia! Naturally, there would be the sorts that are schemers... Including the sort that wraps silk around your face for no apparent reason… Blimey, still hurts a bit…"

Muyoko eyed the downed Sewing Pokemon as she issued her next command to her Golem. "Golem, use Bulldoze."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Smart move."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

"In addition to doing damage, Bulldoze is a move that lowers the target's Speed stat slightly if it hits. A good choice against such a swift opponent, albeit the move won't do that much damage since Sewaddle resists ground-type moves like Bulldoze." Tucking its limbs close to its spherical shell, the Megaton Pokemon began rolling towards his quarry, flattening forest foliage along the way. "Albeit, the move does look awfully similar to Rollout..." The Sewing Pokemon attempted to squirm away from the path of the oncoming Golem, but only succeeded in removing its front half, shrieking as its tail was run over. Turning to face the back of the rolling Megaton Pokemon, Sewaddle lowered its head, firing off several razor-sharp crescent-shaped leaves from its leafy bonnet which proceeded to make their mark, causing Golem to halt its movement in surprise and fall face-first to the ground.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Now that Razor Leaf on the other hand, _that_ was super effective." As Golem struggled to get back on his feet, Sewaddle spat a length of silk at his face the moment he turned his head, obscuring his vision as the sticky material made contact with his eyes, causing the Megaton Pokemon to clumsily fall over backwards in surprise. Capitalizing on the opportunity, the Sewing Pokemon hastily used another string of silk to make its getaway, swinging from tree to tree.

Muyoko pouted as she recalled her Golem. "Aw man! Sewaddle got away again!"

Al gazed coolly at her friend. "Because of your shortcomings?"

"Oh, be quiet, Al! I was doing fine, right Nigey?"

The boy quickly nodded. "Of course, Muyoko. Would I ever doubt you for a second?"

Al rolled her eyes. "You'd agree with Muyoko anytime, Nigel. You're such a sycophant!" Nigel timidly lowered his head in response.

Muyoko bit her lip. "Hey! Don't be mean to Nigey!"

The Time Lord chuckled as he made his presence known to the strangers. "You know, I think I might have an idea on how to catch that Sewaddle."

Muyoko perked up immediately. "Oh, do you? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Nigel nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah-h, w-what-t i-i-is it-t?"

Al rolled her eyes. "You're accepting help from complete strangers?"

Muyoko stared at Al. "They're not strangers! At least, not _that much_. They pointed out what direction Sewaddle went."

"Same diff…"

The Doctor scratched his head. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm the Doctor, just the Doctor. No other names, nicknames, titles, references, terms, and for that matter, _conditions_, attached. Just call me 'the Doctor'. And these are my companions." The Time Lord cleared his throat as he pointed out each individual person. "That's Amy, Rory, Skylar, Szac, Sophie, and Katrina. Any questions? No? Good. Don't mind us though, we're just…passing through…yes, that's right, passing…through. Passing through rather _slowly_, put it that way. Not a good pace for time to go, _at all_, but when you're traveling, lets you take in the sights, no?"

Amy turned to stare at the Time Lord. "Doctor?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do me a favor."

"What?"

"Shut up. Like, _now_." The Doctor complied with a pout on his features.

Muyoko perked up. "But if he shuts up, how will he tell me his idea?"

The Doctor smirked. "Yeah, Pond! How will I tell her my idea?" Amy rolled her eyes with a frown.

"Uh, we don't even know who you all are." interjected Szac.

Muyoko clicked her fingers, gesturing to Nigel. "Oh, I almost forgot about that! Sorry. Well, I'm Muyoko, and this is my boyfriend Nigel, but I like to call him 'Nigey'! Say hello, Nigey."

Nigel slowly and timidly raised a hand in a short wave. "H-How-w d-d-do y-you do-o-o?"

"Nigey's pretty shy, but that's okay!" Muyoko quickly pointed out her other traveling companion. "And this is our friend Alexandra, but you can call her 'Al' for short."

Al rolled her eyes as she spoke mirthlessly. "Hello… And what is this idea you were _oh so eager_ to share?"

Muyoko frowned in response to her friend's behavior. "Al, be polite!"

The Doctor beamed. "My idea to catch Sewaddle? Why, a jam beverage, of course!"

Al sighed heavily. "You _honestly_ think that will work?"

Katrina nodded. "The Doctor is a famous researcher, you know."

"How come I've never heard of him before? And believe me, I look through a lot of things. Is this some sort of conspiracy?"

Muyoko groaned. "You think conspiracies are _everywhere_, Al! Like that weird one where the White Prince is still alive! That guy kicked the bucket centuries ago!"

The Time Lord frowned in deep indignation. "Oi!"

Muyoko continued, disregarding the fact that the Doctor not interrupted her. "Anyway, I think it's great that we have a researcher, no less a famous one, here! All the better for him to give his opinion!"

"Well, a jam beverage is sweet and I know many bug-type Pokemon love it." remarked Szac. The Doctor smiled fondly at the comment.

Sophie clicked her fingers. "I saw Professor Juniper use that as bait a few times to attract bug-type Pokemon to observe."

Skylar nodded. "I've seen Professor Rowan do that as well."

The Doctor shrugged. "Yes, the diets for a good number of bug-type Pokemon are completely liquid, so they can't exactly consume jam on its own. But they do love the sweet stuff. Reminds them of nectar from flowers. You know who came up with the idea?"

"The White Prince?" asked Muyoko.

"Bingo." replied Sophie.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? No one else thought about that before him? It's simply dissolving jam in water!"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "I, for one, think that is a _pretty good_ achievement, Pond."

"Only you, Doctor. Only you. Seems like everything goes right back to the White Prince."

Sophie cupped her chin. "The White Prince thought it was one of his best achievements, actually."

Rory's visage took on a contemplative look. "Wonder what he was thinking when he came up with it." The Time Lord allowed his mind to drift away from its current focus as it was brought to a past memory.

_Sitting contently near a shelf in a well-stocked kitchen, a man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties grabbed a jar and a goblet, licking his lips eagerly. Digging a spoon into the jar's contents, he quickly fished out a generous quantity of jam before dispensing it into the half white and half black goblet. Adding a few more spoonfuls of the fruit spread, he proceeded to fill the goblet with water before stirring the mixture, ensuring that the jam fully dissolved in the liquid. Lifting the goblet to his lips, the blonde haired man closed his eyes as he prepared for a savory experience._

_Before so much as a drop could enter the blonde haired man's mouth, the door to the kitchen abruptly swung open, surprising him and nearly causing him to spill his drink on his clothes. Gently settling down the goblet, the blonde haired man turned to see that he was no longer alone in the chamber, for another man who shared his appearance except for a dark head of hair stepped in._

_The dark haired man's voice was straight and to the point. "Where do we keep the scrap rags?" Raising an eyebrow, the blonde haired man jerked his thumb to a hook at the back of the kitchen, from which hung several old pieces of cloth. "Thank you." Without another word, the dark haired man strode to the hook, ripping off a patch of cloth. Curious, the blonde haired man eyed the other man's actions, quickly noticing the dark haired man raise a claymore with an ebony-black blade, coated in crimson blood. With a quick action of his hand, the dark haired man wiped the red liquid from his sword's blade, smirking as the cloth turned red._

_The blonde haired man huffed. "I do not even want to know where you have been."_

"_Maybe not, but something tells me that you will find out anyway. You know, I have no clue who is behind it, but they really should stop sending assassins…"_

"_What?"_

"_Are you deaf or just plain unaware? For quite a while now, there have been assassins, some disguising themselves as servants or knights, sneaking into the castle trying to off me." _

_The blonde haired man frowned. "Assassins? In the castle?"_

"_Yes, Frankly, I am starting to question the point of the Royal Guards. Not once have they managed to detect a single assassin. Dimwitted sycophants…"_

"_Eh? If they went undetected, then they must be professional assassins. But how do you know about the assassins then, hmmm?"_

_The dark haired man's left eye twitched in irritation. "Is it not obvious? I am the one who noticed them! They were sent to kill me, so I offed them before they could do the same to me."_

_The blonde haired man raised an eyebrow. "How many assassins have tried to kill you?"_

_The dark haired man smirked. "The same number who have died in the attempt."_

"_I suggest you not get too cocky, hmmm? Someone placed close to you might very well succeed one of these days. It might be days, months, years, decades, centuries, or even millennia from now, but if you are not careful, all it can take is a single strike. It could be someone you do not expect at all."_

_The dark haired man frowned deeply. "Are you threatening me?"_

"_No. Consider it a piece of helpful advice, because I have someone to care for. What if you wind up dying in my arms?"_

"_Would that make you happy? Dying in your arms?"_

_The blonde haired man shook his head vigorously in disagreement. "Of course not! Why should it? You are my responsibility, brother."_

"_Touching… No, seriously, really touching. Anyway, the assassins got past the Royal Guards. What a useless excuse for knights they are."_

_The blonde haired man stood up, appearing to take offense to the other man's comment. "I would have to say that the Royal Guards are quite well-trained and loyal to you! Did it not occur to you that you are naturally more perceptive than a human, hmmm? You have an advantage in detecting disguised humans and their true intentions than they do!"_

"_I will concede that point to you, brother. But do not think it will change my opinion of them. Although, it is not like it would matter if an assassin was successful in his or her mission. It is a good thing we can regenerate, is it not? Death will only be temporary to us." _

_The dark haired man tossed the rag aside and made to leave the kitchen, causing the other man to immediately notice that his claymore had dripped a sizeable trail of blood into the room. The blonde haired man frowned in disapproval. "Oi! Are you not going to clean up your mess, hmmm?"_

_The dark haired man chuckled. "I believe that is your job, brother. But enough about me, what in the name of Gallifrey are you doing?"_

_As if forgetting his previous disapproval, the blonde haired man perked up, his frown spontaneously changing into a smile. "Me? Well, I just made an interesting discovery! If you mix a few spoonfuls of jam with a goblet of water, you get a very fruity and delicious beverage!"_

"_That is one of your most pointless ideas ever! A new beverage, how ridiculous…" _

_The blonde haired man pouted as he took his goblet and drank the contents completely. "But you have not even tried it yet! It is good! It also attracts bug-type Pokemon and you can study them easily!"_

"_If you want a bug-type Pokemon to study, I can bring you one cut open with the extracted viscera in an accompanying jar. You get to see more of it and will not have to worry about it trotting away before you have finished your observations. And you can keep it around for longer."_

"_That is not the point!" The blonde haired man sighed. "If you want to try the drink, the ingredients are all here." He turned his back on the other man. "Good day to you, brother."_

_The dark haired man spoke. "Anyway, I prepared a nice surprise for you just outside the kitchen."_

_The blonde haired man beamed. "Really? How thoughtful!"_

"_Well, you do not have to thank me. I do not think you will in the long run anyway…"_

"_Eh? What is that supposed to mean?"_

_The dark haired man shrugged. "Oh, nothing." Raising an eyebrow, the blonde haired man walked out the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind him. Before he could continue on his way, he heard the other man speak from inside the room. "Hmmm… It actually does have a nice, fruity flavor for a beverage." _

_The blonde haired man beamed again. "He liked it! He actually liked it!"_

_He soon found his happy mood turn sour upon hearing the dark haired man's next sentence. "Looks like that pedestrian brain of my brother's has some use after all."_

_The blonde haired man's eyes twitched in offense. "Pedestrian brain? Pedestrian brain?" His eyes widened as he noticed a trail of crimson liquid on the floor, with some minor stains on the walls nearby. Raising an eyebrow, he followed the trail down the passage until he came to a stop at the source, paralyzed in surprise before he overcame the shock from his gruesome discovery. "What the? OI! I JUST HAD THE WALLS AND FLOOR CLEANED!" _

_Slouched against the wall was the corpse of a young woman, her torso sliced open vertically down from sternum to pelvis. From the woman's stomach, her blood and viscera spilled from the lower half of the gaping wound and onto the floor, forming a puddle of biological matter with an indiscernible shape. Cutting down her chest was the top half of the wound, her ribcage pried apart to expose her lungs, a void in the space normally occupied by her heart. Her head was slumped to the side on her left shoulder, a large gash in the right side of her neck nearly severing her spinal column. On the other side lay another corpse, that of a young man, with the same treatment netted out to his body as the woman, an equally sized pool of blood collecting on the floor near him. Set down on the floor between them were their disembodied hearts, stabbed through with a dagger that served the purpose of connecting them, the end of the knife poking out through cardiac muscle. A small pool of blood collected where they lay. The blonde haired man's attention was soon caught by a sheet of parchment pinned to the wall above the dead man's head. Careful not to disturb the body, he leaned in to read the parchment's text._

'_To our dearest family,_

_Success comes at a price, and if you have followed our instructions and found this letter, then we have thus paid dearly for it. We leave confident of our success, and we honestly believe that we can achieve in our task where others have failed, a task that constitutes the biggest challenge of our lives. That we can manage to insert a knife in the savage heart of the Black Prince or poison in his corrupted veins. One wonders if he even bleeds…_

_You must remember how much we enjoyed the lives we lived, how much we prospered under the guidance of our past lord, and you must remember the torment we underwent after he was murdered at the hands of the Black Prince, his head taken for a trophy, and our lands seized. Since that day, we have been tormented by his actions. We believe that the White Prince is doing all he can to counter this, but we are also of the thought that his efforts are lacking, and thus, a more direct intervention is needed. That man is too soft sometimes…_

_The castle's Royal Guards are well-trained, as we leave no room for failure of our task, we can fully expect that we will not leave the castle alive when we succeed. The White Prince may be kind-hearted, but we doubt that he of all people will show mercy to the murderers of his twin brother. Blood runs thicker than water, and we trust that through his kindness, he loves his brother dearly. Even a gentle man has his limits. We would not put it past him to call for our executions, nor can we blame him should he decide to undertake such an action._

_We carry a copy of this letter as a reminder of our task, and we leave with the knowledge that we may not live to see any of you again. We sincerely beg for your forgiveness should that be the case. Please forgive our unfaithfulness towards you, our dearest loved ones, and our greedy and selfish desire to be the ones that terminate a tyrant's existence. We see our task as one for the greater good, and to achieve the greater good, sacrifices must be made. Invariably that often comes at the cost of one's life._

_With our mission clear to us, we hope that you might all wake up one day to a brighter future free of a tyrant who has intruded on our rights and freedom. As formidable as the Black Prince may seem, he is merely a human being like the rest of us, with the same weaknesses and shortcomings, the same lapses in judgment and awareness that we are all prone to. And when one such opportunity presents itself, we will seize the moment to strike. With the fulfillment of our task, Unova will see that even he can fall, just like the lords and ladies whose lands he conquered and whose souls he banished to the afterworld._

_And though we cannot see it, we know our love will reach you, spoken in a thousand words, suspended on silver wings._

_Quincy and Doreen'_

_The blonde haired man sighed as he finished gazing at the letter. "If only they realized that I am not quite the person they though I was... If only they realized that my brother was not a human... That was their fatal mistake."_

_He soon perked up as he heard the dark haired man call for him from the kitchen. "Oh, brother? Regarding the assassins trying to kill me? Well, I offed the latest ones earlier today! What a stupid couple! They thought I was a human! A pathetic human! It absolutely sickens and disgusts me to be lumped with those scumbags! In case your pedestrian brain was wondering, their corpses were the surprise I had out for you! Maybe you can make an example of them by putting them on public display during the banquet you are holding tonight!"_

_The blonde haired man squeezed his eyes shut, rearing his head back to let out an outburst. "STOP SAYING THAT I HAVE A PEDESTRIAN BRAIN!"_

The Doctor shook the image from his mind with a click of his fingers. "Alright then, gimme a minute." Reaching into his backpack, the Time Lord fetched a small bowl, summoning his Oshawott with a flick of a Pokeball. "Use Water Gun to fill the bowl." Upon the fulfillment of the request by the Sea Otter Pokemon, the Doctor stirred in a few tablespoonfuls of jam. "That should do it."

Muyoko stared at the bowl in the Time Lord's hands. "Is that enough, you think?"

"Yep, it's the White Prince's exact recipe! Saw it myself first-hand."

Amy turned to her husband, whispering into his ear. "I know we discussed this in Straiton City, but you really think the Doctor met the White Prince in his travels?"

"At this point, the possibility's increasing."

The Doctor proceeded to add several leaves to the bowl, watching as they floated in the liquid, occluding its surface. "Since Sewaddle largely consumes leaves, this should tempt it just a bit more." The Time Lord set the bowl down under a tree. "Now, we wait…"

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Tree Growth, January 19, 2011, 11:30 a.m.)_

Muyoko frowned as she massaged the soles of her feet, squatting behind a bush. "Awww… How long more do we have to sit here? I'm getting cramps!"

Al groaned. "Oh, be quiet, will you? You're just keeping a lookout for Sewaddle while we have to use our Pokemon to fend off any other bug-types that the jam beverage keeps luring here."

From behind a tree, Sophie pointed at a Venipede inching its way towards the bowl, a Poochyena by her side. "Den, use Shadow Ball!" The Bite Pokemon generated a black and purple ball of energy from his mouth, firing it at the Centipede Pokemon and forcing it to scamper away. "Though I must say, the White Prince's recipe is quite potent." The girl's eyes widened as she caught sight of an approaching Joltik. "Oh, a Joltik! I've been looking for one for a while! Den, Iron Tail!" The Bite Pokemon's tail shone white as he leapt out towards the Attaching Pokemon, catching his quarry unaware and striking it hard.

Szac tsked his companion. "Not very effective, Sophie."

"Well, I don't want to squish it!" Joltik soon fired off a rainbow colored beam of energy at Den from the center of its head, pushing the Poochyena backwards as the attack met its target. "Alright then, Shadow Ball!" Den launched his attack, which whizzed towards the Attaching Pokemon, the impact knocking it into the tree the bowl was placed under. "Before it can recover, Swagger!" The Poochyena complied, waving its body in a slouch, raising Joltik's Attack stat and simultaneously confusing it. "Dig!" Hastily burrowing underground, Den emerged directly under the Attaching Pokemon, tossing its small frame into the air, causing it to land on the grass with a dull thud. Sophie pulled out an empty Pokemon and hurled it at the dazed Joltik. "Now, go Pokeball!" The red-and-white sphere tapped the Joltik and opened, converting the Pokemon to white energy which it proceeded to encapsulate. Landing on the grass, the Pokeball shook thrice before it fell still, a small shower of sparkles popping from its surface. Sophie walked from her position behind the tree as she stopped next to the bowl. "Okay! I've got a Joltik now! I guess I'll call you, hmmm…, Zapper!"

Szac whistled. "Looks like that Joltik was good at dealing damage but not so much taking it."

As Sophie bent down to pick up her newly-obtained Pokemon, the Doctor's lips curled into a smile, his eyelids slowly rolling shut, his back leaning against the bark of a tree, out of view from his companions. The Time Lord crossed his arms. "Oshawott, Razor Shell." A scalchop shot through the leaves from the top of the Doctor's tree, spinning as it tore through the air. With a deft thwack, the appendage's sharp edge soon lodged itself in the bark of the tree which housed the bowl at its roots. The Doctor's companions widened their eyes in surprise as a Sewaddle fell from the leaves at the tree's summit, colliding with the back of Sophie's head, causing the girl to lose her balance and fall, face-first into the bowl, spilling the jam beverage inside onto the surrounding grass. Leaping out of the tree onto the grass, Oshawott puffed his chest out with a sense of accomplishment.

Al raised an eyebrow. "Okay, how did the Doctor know that Sewaddle was there? His back was turned to it the whole time!"

"I-I t-think-k h-h-he's o-o-odd." muttered Nigel.

Amy shook her head. "'Odd' is an understatement when it comes to describing the Doctor."

Muyoko leapt out of the bushes and dashed towards the Sewaddle, which was still lying on Sophie's neck, with the girl scrambling to get her face out of the bowl. "Well, I'm getting Sewaddle before it sneaks away again!" Before the Sewing Pokemon could react, Muyoko leapt up and tackled Sophie, catching Sewaddle between their frames. Muyoko's dive knocked Sophie's head out of the bowl as both girls rolled down the grass for a meter, coming to a stop as they crashed into the trunk of a nearby tree. Confused and disoriented, Sewaddle attempted to wiggle away, but Muyoko grabbed it by the tail, her body still lying atop Sophie's. "Not so fast, Sewaddle!" Reacting quickly, Muyoko leapt off Sophie and threw her frame over the Sewing Pokemon, holding it tightly to her stomach as she pulled out an empty Pokeball and tapped Sewaddle on the head with the red-and-white sphere, drawing it in. She kept her body prone over the Pokeball as it shook, smiling as the red-and-white sphere ceased to vibrate, picking it up with a start. "Well, it looks like you're finally mine, Sewaddle."

Rory's eyes widened in surprise. "That was an odd way to capture Sewaddle."

The Doctor chuckled with profound amusement. "Not all Pokemon need to be battled by other Pokemon and captured to join a Trainer, Rory. Some do join voluntarily, like mine…"

Amy scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like yours. Even if you _were_ a beginning Trainer, you were only supposed to get one of them, and you took all three, you greedy pig..."

The Time Lord rolled his eyes as he pretended to ignore the Scottish woman. "…and others are obtained by more _unorthodox_ methods. Of course, unorthodox and me go hand-in-hand. Unorthodox is my middle name. Oh wait, it isn't. Nevermind…"

Al's visage bore a skeptical look. "A famous researcher and a beginning Trainer? This I've never seen before. Surely you must have accumulated a plethora of Pokemon, Doctor."

"Long story."

Sophie cupped her chin. "Unova's starter Pokemon were the non-Legendary Pokemon owned by the White Prince, and following his death…"

"The White Prince isn't dead." muttered Al.

"That's a conspiracy! And just a theory!" retorted Muyoko.

"Exactly!"

Sophie continued to speak. "Following his death, they were chosen to be the region's starters in honor of him. Over time, their species behavior each came to symbolize a trait he possessed. He was a skilled swordsman, fought for peoples' rights, and was very courageous, brave, and daring, fitting Oshawott's evolutionary line. He was a determined man and a hard worker, never knew when to leave things be if he suspected trickery or wrongdoing, and cared deeply for even the lowliest of people, especially the oppressed, symbolizing traits embodied by Tepig's evolutionary line. However, there were times when the power he wielded got to his head and he occasionally acted very arrogantly and snide. If he had to, he was also very capable of manipulating others and putting them in very compromising positions, making life hard for them if they opposed him, but that is a side of him that even he was afraid of, so he enjoyed the company of others, surrounding himself with people so they can 'stop' him from going 'too far'. And that ties in to Snivy's evolutionary line, whose regal appearance also gave a hint to his status as Unova's supreme ruler."

Rory nodded. "I read about all that in Professor Juniper's library."

Katrina smiled. "All that aside, it looks like the jam beverage _did_ draw out Sewaddle."

"It did." Strolling to the tree he had placed the bowl under, the Doctor turned to face Sophie as he removed Oshawott's scalchop, his expression stern as she wiped the jam beverage from her face. "Focus! Sewaddle was lured here but almost slipped away because you decided to linger at the tree and catch that Joltik!"

Skylar trembled slightly, intimidated by the Time Lord's retort. "Okay, I'm not used to seeing the Doctor like this at all…"

Rory shrugged. "Well, just because the Doctor is patient, doesn't mean he can't get mad, which some of his enemies have discovered to their peril."

Muyoko flashed the Doctor a grin as she stared at the Time Lord, who had resorted to massaging his temples to relieve himself of the stress. "Thanks Doctor, that idea of yours was so cool!"

The Doctor chuckled as his Oshawott slid out of his tree, false modesty permeating his voice. "Yeah, I'm quite cool, aren't I?" He scratched his head as he continued, his speech increasing in flamboyancy as he returned the scalchop to Oshawott. "In fact, there is an unspoken, unwritten _law_ out there that specifically states that I, the Doctor, am cool. 'Nuff said."

Amy groaned. "_Please_ don't encourage him…"

Katrina smiled. "Well, he deserves the credit…"

"Not you too…"

Szac placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder as the girl moved to pick up her newly captured Joltik. "Maybe you shouldn't test the Doctor's patience so much, Sophie. I think he's on the verge of having his Pokemon wake you up in the morning, which is _not_ pleasant, let me tell you."

Sophie huffed slightly. "You're one to talk, Szac. You sleep in too, you know."

"And that is exactly how I know what it feels like to be abruptly woken up."

Skylar turned to Muyoko. "So why are you three in this neck of the woods?"

Muyoko fingered the Pokeball which contained her new Pokemon. "Oh, well, Al and I are friends just traveling through Unova now, because Nigey has so graciously offered to show us around his home region. We're from Newbark Town in Johto. But we came to Pinwheel Forest because we heard Sewaddle can be found there, and I really want one to use in the Pokemon Musical."

Al rolled her eyes in slight annoyance at her friend. "Are you done blabbering now?"

The Doctor nodded, a sense of familiarity leaking into his voice. "Ah, the Pokemon Musical. A competition held in Nimbasa City that tests how well a Pokemon can dance to music and steal the audience's attention. Very artistic, if you ask me."

Amy tapped the Time Lord on the shoulder. "And Nimbasa City is where?"

The Doctor switched on his Town Map, pointing to a dot slightly below the center of Unova's image. "Right here." His finger shifted to a small dot at the southeastern point of the region, bordering a river in the east. "And for comparison's sake, we're here in Pinwheel Forest. If you started your journey from Nuvema Town and were collecting gym badges, Nimbasa City's gym is typically the fourth one you'd challenge. And yes, Pond, it's the city past the Desert Resort, the place where you complained we'd get sand in our shoes."

"So how does the Musical work?"

"Participants dress their Pokemon up in props, up to eight if I'm not wrong, and then the Pokemon competes against three others in a dance set to music. All four Pokemon dance at the same time, but strategic usage and placement of the props will dictate how well any given Pokemon can steal the attention of the audience from its competitors, and the winner is the one who received the most attention, since the audience would be voting."

Muyoko nodded vigorously. "That's right! I want to participate in the Musical with Nigey, and the audience will see who has the better dancing Pokemon!"

Nigel bit his lips as he attempted to compose himself. "G-Good-d-d l-l-luck, M-Muyoko… I-I-I think-k-k y-you're-e g-g-gonna-a-a n-need it-t-t."

"Awww… How sweet of you, Nigey! Say, how about a battle?"

"A-A b-b-battle-e-e?"

"Yeah! I want to see how strong Sewaddle is!"

"O-Okay-y…"

Muyoko smiled as she tossed her Pokeball into the air, opening to reveal her Sewaddle. "Great! It's your time to shine, Sewaddle!"

Nigel bit his lip tentatively as he followed his girlfriend's action. "C-Come-e o-on-n o-o-out-t, Z-Zebstrika-a…" The boy's Pokeball opened, allowing a zebra-like creature to materialize on the grass. The creature was primarily black, with white zigzagging stripes crisscrossing its frame. Lining the creature's neck and back was a long, white mane, extending up the head to end in two horn-like protrusions and down the read end to end in a long tail.

The Doctor cupped his chin. "Hmmm… Zebstrika's an electric-type, and a grass-type like Sewaddle resists electric-type moves. Looks like Muyoko has the advantage here."

"You can go first, Nigey." offered Muyoko.

Nigel rubbed his hands together. "Very well. Zebstrika, use Double Kick!" The Thunderbolt Pokemon rushed forward towards his target, lashing out with his forelegs and landing two hits upon the Sewing Pokemon.

"Oh no! Sewaddle, use Bug Buzz!" Taking advantage of the close proximity her opponent placed himself relative to her when he launched his last attack, Sewaddle began to shriek in a shrilly tone, emitting red sound waves which encompassed her surroundings, forcing Zebstrika to squeeze his eyes shut and lower his head towards the ground.

Szac whistled. "Bug Buzz lowers the opponent's Special Defense slightly if it hits, so that was a good move."

Nigel bellowed loudly in a bid to make his voice heard through the sound waves. "We must move quickly, Zebstrika! Use Double Kick again and follow it with Wild Charge while Sewaddle is still flying!"

Muyoko visibly tensed her frame. "Sewaddle! Dodge that Double Kick!" Still occupied with launching her Bug Buzz, the Sewing Pokemon hastily halted her attack and made a desperate bid to wiggle away from the Thunderbolt Pokemon's hooves, to little avail as Zebstrika whirled around and lashed out, smacking Sewaddle's small frame with one hindleg and then the next, catapulting the Sewing Pokemon into the atmosphere. Focusing his gaze on Sewaddle's predicted landing site, Zebstrika cloaked himself in yellow electricity and sped towards the spot, meeting his quarry head-on in a hard collision. The girl's eyes widened as her Pokemon landed on the grass and slid for a meter. "Sewaddle!"

"Zebstrika! Use Double Kick again!"

"Dodge and use Razor Leaf, Sewaddle!" The Sewing Pokemon rolled aside, dodging an oncoming kick from her opponent, before lowering her head, sending out several crescent-shaped leaves which proceeded to strike Zebstrika's frame, forcing him to rear back slightly. "Now use Bug Buzz!" Another shrill cry from Sewaddle was enough to make Zebstrika bend his neck towards the grass, attempting to cup his ears between his forelegs to drown out the noise.

Sophie widened her eyes. "Looks like Muyoko is taking advantage of Zebstrika's lowered Special Defense by using a Special move like Bug Buzz, and as a bonus, it'll lower Zebstrika's Special Defense even further."

Muyoko grinned. "Bug Bite, Sewaddle!" The Sewing Pokemon's fangs shone white as she leapt up and latched them onto Zebstrika's left foreleg, causing the Thunderbolt Pokemon to bolt up in surprise.

"Shake Sewaddle off with Thunder!" The Thunderbolt Pokemon engulfed himself in yellow electricity, successfully dislodging his opponent as the volts surged through her body. "Now use Wild Charge!"

"Bug Buzz!" As Sewaddle began to shriek and release her red sound waves, Zebstrika charged through the attack, cloaking himself in yellow electricity as he pushed his frame forwards, resisting the piercing effect of the sound on his ear canals and Special Defense. The Thunderbolt Pokemon smashed the front of his body directly into the Sewing Pokemon, knocking her directly into the trunk of a tree, before she slid down its surface and landed on the forest floor with a dull thud, swirly eyes evident on her visage.

Nigel gazed at his panting Zebstrika before casting his girlfriend a look, a sharp grin carved into his face. "I guess that's it, Muyoko. I won."

Muyoko sighed as she recalled her Sewaddle. "I suppose so. Good job, Sewaddle. Looks like Sewaddle and I need to do more work. Don't tell me we didn't give you a run for your money though."

"I-It w-was f-f-fun-n."

Katrina scratched her head. "Is it just me, or were those two a lot more confident and warlike during that battle?"

Al shook her head. "It isn't just you. They just happen to be like that. Their confidence surges during a battle, and then it goes right back to the way it was afterwards. It boggles the mind."

Amy bit her lip as she approached the Doctor. "Doctor?"

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm?"

"Let's battle."

"Now?"

Al sighed. "Oh bother…"

Skylar shrugged. "This could prove interesting."

"Yes, right here, right now. I think Larvesta needs some experience." The woman flashed the Volcarona card in the Time Lord's face, prompting him to smile. "Well? Do you accept?"

"Go for it, Amy." said Rory.

The Doctor chuckled. _"This is a good chance for me to see if Amy regained her confidence from her last battle."_ "How could I not?"

Amy nodded. "Alright then. I want a challenge."

"Oh, do you?"

"This is my chance to see if I can battle better than last time. I wasn't at my peak then."

The Time Lord closed his eyes. "That's right, you were depressed about Munna. Hopefully, rescuing Larvesta from the Cybermen restored your drive. I promise I will get Munna back for you though."

"I know you will. But for now, I see this as a test."

"Good. What challenge are you looking for? Within reason, you can choose which Pokemon I use."

Amy smirked. "Glad you said that. Use Oshawott, Doctor."

* * *

Author's notes: And that chapter is done. I apologize for the long delay, but I haven't had as much free time as I anticipated. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway, and I'll try to get out the next one as soon as I can. Here's the glossary.

(1) The Doctor's level of intelligence is considered average by Time Lord standards, however, this does mean he is intellectually superior to humans, a fact that he wastes no opportunity in flaunting at times.

(2) The Doctor's true name is known to be a very valuable piece of information in the universe, with few confirmed to know it, hence leading to many others labeling him with various titles through the years. It is implied to be a source of shame for him, though.

(3) This line was spoken by the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the expanded media story "Ground Control", with regards to how he felt about fire.

Like before, I am still looking for and taking OCs, up until the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**

**Muyoko Ginkotone, Alexandra Diamond, and Nigel White belong to Chicken-Wings93. **


	32. The Gateway to Unova's Heartland

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"There's a scene at the end of the movie where I tell her, 'You know you've got to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.'" _– Breckin Meyer

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 32: The Gateway to Unova's Heartland**

* * *

_(Pinwheel Forest, Tree Growth, January 19, 2011, 12:15 p.m.)_

The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Rory stared at his wife. "Are you sure about this? You're giving the Doctor the advantage here."

"I think it's a nice way to test Larvesta's battle prowess." remarked Katrina. In response, the Doctor wordlessly clicked his fingers, summoning his Oshawott forward. "It looks like the Doctor agrees then."

Amy tossed Larvesta's Pokeball with a flourish. "Let's do this, Larvesta! Do I have the first move?" The Doctor nodded. "Alright, use Ember!" The Torch Pokemon aimed her horns at the Sea Otter Pokemon, spewing out several small fire bolts from the appendages.

The Doctor's reaction to the attack was quick and decisive. "Oshawott, block it with your scalchop." In response, the Sea Otter Pokemon detached the appendage from his chest, swatting it in a downward motion at the approaching fire bolts, knocking those he hit to the ground. However Oshawott was unable to deflect the entirety of the attack, flinching as some stuck his head. "Water Gun!" Propelling a forceful shot of water from his mouth, the Sea Otter Pokemon aimed to strike his opponent.

"Dodge and get in close with Bug Bite!" Larvesta complied, jumping to the left to avoid Oshawott's attack, before she responded in turn, scurrying hastily towards her quarry.

"Stop using Water Gun and get away, Oshawott!"

"Too late for that, Doctor!" Opening her mouth, Larvesta quickly leapt up and latched her fangs onto Oshawott's side, the Sea Otter Pokemon still occupied with firing off Water Gun to notice the unwelcome intrusion until he felt the bite, causing him to halt the attack and shriek in pain.

"Knock Larvesta aside with Razor Shell!" Still clutching his scalchop, Oshawott elongated a sword-shaped pillar of water from the end of the appendage, swinging down towards the Torch Pokemon with the intent of dislodging her.

Amy's eyes widened at the Sea Otter Pokemon's act. "Release Oshawott, quick!" Complying with her Trainer's command, Larvesta fell onto the ground, barely avoiding Oshawott's strike as the scalchop swung over top her head.

"Tackle!" The Sea Otter Pokemon leapt forward, striking his opponent with a full body tackle.

"LARVESTA!"

Szac gazed upon the unfolding battle with newfound interest. "The Doctor is really trying to limit Larvesta's breathing room…"

Sophie nodded. "Larvesta just hatched yesterday and is inexperienced in battle. Amy is going to have to think fast and avoid Oshawott's water-type attacks. One successful super-effective hit can spell disaster for her, especially since Larvesta might not yet have the stamina to withstand it."

Katrina stared down at the ground. "I just hope Amy can do well here. She looks like she really wants a Volcarona."

Amy bit her lip. "Bug Bite again, Larvesta!" Taking advantage of the close quarters between herself and her opponent, the Torch Pokemon complied, soon latching her fangs onto Oshawott's right arm. "Don't let up now, use Flame Wheel!" Her horns glowing red with sparkling flames, the Torch Pokemon initiated a somersault when still attached to her opponent, soon ensnaring both combatants in a rolling wheel of red fire.

The Doctor's facial expression shifted to one of tenseness. "Dispel that Flame Wheel with Aqua Jet!"

"NO!"

Sensing his wife's indecisiveness, Rory shouted out to her. "Amy! Larvesta's still latching onto Oshawott with Bug Bite!"

Amy clicked her fingers. "That's right! Distract Oshawott from fighting back by increasing the force of your Bug Bite, Larvesta!" The Flame Wheel rolled on for a meter before the fire was suddenly blasted aside by a comet-shaped water spout emerging from its ashes, traveling forward and away from its point of origin. Drenched in water, Larvesta flopped down onto the grass. The woman gasped in shock as the water spout did a U-turn, headed directly towards her Pokemon. "Larvesta! Counter with Ember!" Fire bolts sprouting from her horns, the Torch Pokemon shot off her attack into the head of the Aqua Jet, steam rising where the small red flares evaporated the water they touched. Blinded by the steam, Oshawott squeezed his eyes shut, losing the ability to properly steer his attack as he slammed into the ground a meter from Larvesta, the Torch Pokemon flinching as a thin spray of water from the Aqua Jet splattered upon her frame.

Skylar adjusted her goggles on her head. "It may not look like it, but that last Ember attack did do some damage as it hit Oshawott's front through that Aqua Jet. Similarly, Aqua Jet may not have made its mark _directly_, but I bet Larvesta really felt whatever water that _did_ hit her."

Amy pointed at Oshawott. "Larvesta, let's try for a Flame Wheel one more time!" The Torch Pokemon somersaulted, soon encompassing herself in a rolling wheel of fire, headed for Oshawott.

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Use Aqua Jet again, Oshawott!" The Sea Otter Pokemon soon leapt into the air, covering himself in a controlled spiraling water sprout as he lunged at Larvesta, both Pokemon soon meeting in a clash that pushed each other back and forth by centimeters, each attack attempting to gain a slight leeway over the other, before both dissolved in a large cloud of hot steam, blinding the Pokemon from their Trainers' sight.

"LARVESTA!"

"OSHAWOTT!" Neither daring to call out an attack in the midst of the steam, the Doctor and Amy gritted their teeth as they waited for the gaseous water to disperse and evaluate the status of their Pokemon. They need not wait long however, for the steam soon cleared, enabling them to see that both Pokemon were lying a meter apart on the grass, out cold with swirly eyes.

Katrina stared at the unconscious Pokemon. "A draw…"

Muyoko beamed. "Not bad for Larvesta's first battle, though. I should know, since I had that battle with Nigey to test my new Sewaddle's strength. Thanks, Nigey!"

Nigey shook his head slowly. "U-U-Uh, no-o-o-o p-p-p-problem-m-m…"

Skylar scratched her head. "I think Larvesta just needs some more training. She managed to last in the battle by dodging a number of Oshawott's attacks and ensuring that the damage is reduced on some of those attacks that _did_ hit her. Being covered by Flame Wheel's fire when she took some of does hits did offer her some protection. Oshawott, in contrast, while he had more stamina, took more damage since he simply took more hits, so his health went down at a faster rate than Larvesta's."

The Doctor's eyes twitched in irritation at Skylar's assessment of his Pokemon. "Oi!" With a quick flourish of his hand, he produced his water pistol, proceeding to spray the girl in the face with the toy, to the shock of his companions. "Hmmm... Now I feel better for some reason..."

Skylar shrieked as she felt her visage get drenched, the sunglasses atop her head beginning to spark. "Argh! My sunglasses! They can't get wet! The mechanisms for work in the field could be ruined!"

Amy huffed as she eyed Skylar desperately attempt to dry her sunglasses. "What a drama queen! Why is she freaking out over a pair of sunglasses?"

Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes. "Skylar's sunglasses contain special technology that helps her out in the field."

"Such as?"

"Things like size measurements, calculations, even weak infrared and ultraviolet vision. You saw her use some of those features when we were trying to figure out what killed the Mandibuzz yesterday."

The woman nodded. "I noticed."

Sophie bit her lip. "Those sunglasses are Skylar's pride and joy. She made them herself, you know. A real child prodigy scientist."

Skylar's eyes widened as she dropped her sunglasses on the grass. "No! The circuitry in there is completely fried! I'll have to remake a lot of this again from scratch!" The Doctor made no attempt to hide a smirk which quickly formed on his face at his companion's distress.

Amy sighed. "It's her own fault. She should consider herself lucky it's only the sunglasses..."

"But the Doctor totally destroyed them! Skylar is probably going to mope about this for weeks! And I have to work with her still!" exclaimed Sophie.

"Such is the price in getting on his bad side. You saw what happened to the Cybermen, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah..."

"Consider the fact that it might have turned out a whole lot worse for Skylar."

Muyoko shuddered slightly. "Gee, the Doctor sounds really scary. I wouldn't want to be the one that angers him."

"That, I can agree with." muttered Katrina.

Szac rolled his eyes. "Do you derive pleasure at the expense of others, Doctor?"

The Doctor chuckled gleefully as he twirled the water pistol with his fingers. "Admittedly, on occasion, _yes_. Albeit, that example is what I call payback."

Rory shrugged. "Well, what Skylar said _is_ true, Doctor. Maybe you should try being less reckless with handling your Pokemon and more aversive to taking hits. You know, you can't go through a struggle soaking up hits constantly and thinking you can keep on going for long."

Sophie sighed as she recalled her prior experience with the same water pistol. "Amy's developing strategy, I see. That's always a good thing."

"And the Doctor is just prone to winging it as he goes." added Amy with a smug look.

The Time Lord frowned as he pocketed his water pistol. "Blimey, you lot…" He soon curled his lips into a smile as he recalled his Oshawott and turned to Amy, who had taken to scooping up her Larvesta into her arms. "Well? Have you regained your confidence in yourself and your Pokemon, Pond?"

Amy smiled. "After that battle, I felt that I've gained new insight as a Trainer through Larvesta's performance. I think Larvesta responded well to my commands and I trust her to do well. The same goes for Herdier." The Torch Pokemon nuzzled her Trainer's arms affectionately in response.

The Doctor beamed. "Larvesta performed the way she did because she could sense your feelings and determination in the battle and she wanted to live up to the expectations you had for her. You were well-focused too, and that helped. Rest assured Pond, you're one step closer to getting a Volcarona."

"That's good to hear."

Rory tapped the Time Lord on the shoulder. "So how are we for time, Doctor?"

The Doctor peered at his watch. "Well, waking up at 6:30 a.m. this morning, we had an early start today and managed to cover quite some ground, but it's close to lunch time now, so I suggest an hour to eat. The Cyberman fiasco yesterday delayed us by quite a bit, so we still have eleven and a half hours more of walking time to go. With an hour for dinner, we could be out of Pinwheel Forest by tomorrow if we stop at 10:30 p.m. to rest. Just a little bit longer and we'll reach Castelia City."

Al yawned in apparent boredom. "Alright, so can we go now? I think I'm starting to _fossilize_ just standing here..."

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Pinwheel Forest Bridge Gate, January 20, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

The Doctor felt a smile grace his face as he felt his shoes tread down the dirt road leading to the exit of Pinwheel Forest, his position at the group's head rendering him the first to glimpse the sight that would soon behold them at the exit, through an opening past the thinning clusters of deep green foliage. "Amy?"

The woman perked up at the mention of her name. "Hmmm?"

"I promised you the glitz and glamour of New York City once, didn't I?

"Yes, I do recall that, Doctor, but I assumed you've forgotten."

"My memory does not fail me that easily, Pond. However, I do think Castelia City makes a good substitute."

Amy raised an eyebrow, slight skepticism making its presence known on her features. "Oh, do you?"

"Well then, take a look if you don't believe me." The Doctor stepped aside to allow his companions to take in the view that he had enjoyed. Built into the ground on the road beyond the forest growth was a suspended platform viewing area, offering passersby the ability to glimpse across the immediate river. At the eastern side of the viewing area stood a tall gate, providing access to a massive gray suspension bridge which straddled the river on two spans, leading into the city built on the other side.

Rory took a few tentative steps forward, visibly stunned by the sight, his interest in science and technology affording him a unique appreciation for the structure before him. "A suspension bridge… And a big one too…"

The Doctor strode onward, overtaking his companion and quickly traversing the steps up the viewing platform. "…right across Unova's east river. This is the Skyarrow Bridge, one of Unova's five bridges that links its east and west to its central landmass. It is quite the marvel of engineering, and is the gateway to Unova's commercial and entertainment centers. It looks kinda like the Brooklyn Bridge, doesn't it?" Leaning his arms on the ledge of the platform, the Time Lord pointed to the city in the distance, a sprawling metropolis and port settlement set into the southern tip of Unova's central peninsula, with many skyscrapers dominating its skyline. "And there's Castelia City, Unova's largest, to be exact, the commercial capital of the region. Does it not resemble Manhattan?"

Amy joined her imaginary friend on the platform. "_Resembling_ is one thing. Actually _serving_ as a good substitute is another, Doctor."

"Where is New York City anyway?" asked Szac.

"On Earth."

Katrina cupped her chin. "That planet the Doctor talked about?"

Amy nodded. "The same. If Pokemon can live on other planets, why not people?" Katrina was given no opportunity to contemplate the woman's question as she turned to speak to the Time Lord. "So do we just walk across?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh yes, the bridge has two floors. The top is for pedestrians to walk or bike, though it can be a long stroll, and the bottom serves vehicular traffic."

Sophie stared across the bridge's length. "I've been over the Skyarrow Bridge a few times. If you look down from the pedestrian walkway, you can see the cars and trucks passing by below. Seeing them rush here and there, I'm reminded of what a fast-paced city Castelia is."

The Scottish woman shrugged. "Okay, there's _one_ similarity to New York City."

As he settled himself on the viewing platform's bench, the Doctor gave Castelia City a glance, one that seemed oddly wayward yet longing. "And I'm sure you'll find more in time. Trust me."

Rory interjected. "The Doctor seems like he's telling the truth, Amy."

Amy shrugged, her skeptical tone not fully departing her voice. "Well, we'll see. That's all I'll say."

Al yawned as she headed toward the bridge gate, turning her head slightly to face her companions. "Are you going to talk back and forth all day? If you are, I'm just going to go ahead first if you lot don't mind."

Muyoko frowned. "Al!"

"What? I have a point."

The Doctor furrowed his brow as he surged forward, leaning his back against the gate's frame. "Oh yes, I do mind! I do mind that quite a lot, Ms. Diamond! Did I mention that I mind **(1)**?"

Al rolled her eyes, as she waved her hand dismissively at the bridge gate. "Just…go…"

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Pedestrian Walkway, January 20, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

Amy ran a hand through her long red hair as a small breeze blew past her head, her shoes clanking against the metal floor of the Skyarrow Bridge with each passing step. "Well, one thing I can say is that the view just keeps getting better and better."

Rory peered down over the bridge's wall at the structure's lower level, observing the traffic passing on three lanes into Castelia City, his childhood spent in Leadworth leaving him unprepared for the sight. "I've never seen anything like this before…"

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You've never been to Castelia City before, Rory? As you can see, the Skyarrow Bridge's lower level services six lane of vehicular traffic. The pedestrian walkway is suspended right over the centerline of the lower level. On one side of the walkway, there are three lanes headed into Castelia City, and the other three for the opposite direction on the other side. "

Muyoko shrugged. "Fascinating. Well, I've never been here before either, and same goes for Nigey or Al." Nigel nodded timidly in response.

The Doctor rested his arms against the pedestrian walkway's railing and low wall as he watched a tugboat traverse under the bridge, the blue metal bar and grate wall underneath attached to the bridge's spans by cables forming a distinct web-like pattern, working in combination to shield the Time Lord from a dream drop distance down into Unova's east river. "He grew up in a village with his wife. Lovely place, Leadworth…" Scuttling at his feet, the Time Lord's Pokemon attempted to peer at the sight through the grate wall, achieving little success due to the manner by which the structure was constructed, obscuring much of the view from their short heights.

"I've never heard of it." muttered Muyoko.

Al rolled her eyes cynically. "We're supposed to believe that?" The Doctor nodded. "Okay, in that case, do you have a bridge to sell us? Like this one?"

"Al! Be nice!"

"The Doctor is trying to tell us that his assistants come from a place that doesn't exist. I sense a conspiracy."

Sophie bit her lip. "I thought the _Cybermen_ didn't exist until I saw them with my own eyes."

"My sunglasses..." whined Skylar.

The Doctor glanced contemplatively over the railing, ignoring Skylar completely. "The universe is a vast and deep place indeed... Space is but an ocean, wide and endless. We could explore it for millennia and never find an end..."

Oshawott sounded off, attracting his Trainer's attention. "Wott. Wott."

"Oh, you want to take a look too, Oshawott? Makes sense, you're a water-type after all. Very well." Bending down, the Doctor scooped up the Sea Otter Pokemon into his arms, perching Oshawott's rear end onto the railing.

Now afforded the view, Oshawott smiled contently. "Osha..."

Amy bit her thumb as she stared at the Sea Otter Pokemon's position on the railing. "Uh Doctor? Is that such a good idea? What if Oshawott falls off the railing?"

The Doctor scoffed dismissively at his companion's concern. "Oh relax, Pond."

Rory shook his head. "I agree with Amy. You really shouldn't be doing that, Doctor."

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he turned to face his companion, distracted from Oshawott. "What's the worst that could happen? I perch myself on ledges like this with some frequency, may I remind you." As the Time Lord spoke, Oshawott stood up to better glimpse the flowing river, committing a critical mistake on his part as he slipped on the metal surface and fell backwards, his chest colliding with the railing, dislodging the attached scalchop. Quickly grasping the steel bar to keep himself from landing on the pedestrian walkway's floor, Oshawott failed to account for his dropped appendage, only noticing when his scalchop clattered to the walking surface and slipped off the bridge through a gap between the wall and floor.

The Sea Otter Pokemon shrieked in alarm as he saw his scalchop splash into the river. "WOTT! OSHA!" Without hesitation, he flipped himself onto the railing, quickly jumping off the metal bar into the watery depths below.

Franctic, Snivy pullled at her Trainer's trouser leg, succeeding in obtaining his full attention. "VY! SNIVY!"

The Doctor peered over his shoulder to glance at the railing behind him. "Hmmm? OSHAWOTT!"

Szac's eyes widened. "Oh my goodness!"

Katrina gasped. "Why did Oshawott jump off the bridge like that? It's dangerous!"

Sophie sighed. "Oshawott and his evolutionary line are very protective of their scalchops. So much so that they won't allow anyone but a trusted person to touch them. Makes sense after all, since they use that scalchop as a weapon to execute some of their moves and defend themselves. Since it's made of keratin, the stuff in our fingernails, a lost or broken scalchop will eventually grow back, but that takes a long while, so if he can, Oshawott would want to recover his scalchop ASAP, for he will be left at a big disadvantage if he had to wait for it to regrow. Not being able to use some moves and being derived of a shield can have a huge impact on him in the long run."

The Doctor sighed as he hastily reached for his sonic screwdriver, tapping the device against a rivet that secured the grate wall to a metal post that held up the railing. "Give me a Dalek any day..." The metal fastener popped from its place with a press of the sonic screwdriver's button, as the Time Lord repeated the process for the rivets on the nearby posts, proceeded to fling aside the section of grate wall that he removed, exposing a sizable hole. Removing his tweed jacket as he slid his backpack to the floor, the Doctor threw the garment aside as he shuffled through the hole he made under the railing, resting his feet against the edge of the floor and reaching back to grasp the metal bar, pulling himself into an upright position. "Here I come, Oshawott! GERONIMO!" The Doctor pushed himself away from the railing as he tucked himself into a ball to reduce air resistance, quickly sailing through the air in a downward diagonal trajectory, pass the cables which held up the bridge's pedestrian walkway railing, before joining his Pokemon with a splash into the river.

Tepig's eyes widened in alarm as he caught sight of a familiar object which slid from a pocket of the Doctor's discarded tweed jacket, clattering along down towards the edge of the pedestrian walkway, toward the gap by which Oshawott's scalchop had found access to the river below. "Pig! Te. Pig!" _"Snivy! The feather!"_

Acting quick on her wits, Snivy dashed down the surface of the walkway, in hot pursuit of the rolling jewelry box. Reaching out with a vine from her shoulder, she wrapped the appendage around the red object before it slid off the bridge, quickly retracting the vine and tightening her grip around the box, protectively clutching it to her chest. "Sni. Sni. Sni. Vy... Snivy. Sni. Snivy. Vy. Sni. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Sni. Sni. Sni..." _"That was close. Oshawott... That idiot is going to get himself killed one day..."_

Tepig chortled. "Pig. Pig. Te..."_ "You like him..."_

Snivy's cheeks turned a deep shade of crimson, a fact she tried to hide from her teammate. "Vy? Vy. Vy!"_ "What? Shut up!" _Turning to face Tepig, she quickly thrust the jewelry box into his chest as she walked forward. "Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Sni." _"Look after the Doctor's feather and jacket, Tepig."_

Tepig bit his lip as he asked his teammate a question, feeling a sense of impending dread at her soon-to-come answer. "Te? Pig. Pig. Pig. Te. Tepig?"_ "What? Where are you going?"_

Snivy huffed. "Snivy? Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Sni. Sni! Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Snivy. Vy. Sni!"_ "Me? I'm going after Oshawott, that's where! Far be it from me that he should get himself killed under my watch!" _

Tepig's eyes widened. "Pig. Te?"_ "Are you nuts?"_

Snivy stared down the edge of the bridge, gazing at the shifting waters as a small smile graced her features. "Sni... Snivy... Vy. Sni. Vy...Sni..."_ "Hmmm... Maybe... I just...am..."_

Tepig shook his head as he stared at his teammate's back. "Pig. Te!"_ "Don't do it!"_

Snivy closed her eyes as she extended her vines slightly from her shoulders, the appendages creeping up towards the railing above her head. "Snivy. Vy. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Snivy."_ "A bit too late to stop me now, Tepig." _Without another word, the Grass Snake Pokemon's vines curled themselves tightly around the metal bar, providing enough grip for Snivy to swing herself outwards through the hole in the wall. Satisfied with the altitude she had achieved, the Grass Snake Pokemon released her hold on the railing, allowing herself to freefall down into the river in the same manner her Trainer had done.

Tepig gasped as he saw his teammate vanish over the edge of the Skyarrow Bridge. "TEPIG!"_ "SNIVY!"_

Oblivious to the actions of his Pokemon, Amy gasped as she witnessed her companion take the plunge into the river's depths. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!" The woman ran to the hole as she made a bid to follow in the footsteps of her imaginary friend, only to be quickly held back by her husband, who grabbed her by the backs of her shoulders. Turning her head sharply to face him, Amy struggled wildly in Rory's grasp. "Let me go! Let me go! I have to go after him!"

Rory pulled Amy away from the gap in the bridge's wall made by the Doctor, bitting his lip as her fists struck his torso repeatedly. "Don't do anything stupid, Amy! For now, let's just go back to the bridge gate and tell the man there what happened. I'm sure the Doctor will be fine. Do you trust me?" Amy nodded slowly. The nurse sighed as he uttered the next eleven words. "Then trust me when I say this. Have faith in him." _"Sigh. A much I hate to admit it, Amy needs her faith in the Doctor now. And after all that work I put through to get her to have faith in me. I know she still does, a lot of it in fact, that's partly why she married me, but why do I feel so uneasy _**(2)**_?"_

Szac gazed uncertainly down the bridge at the flowing river underneath. "Will he? That's quite a plunge, you know."

Amy bit her lip. "He told me in Nacrene City that he could survive falls from great heights, but also that it was _debatable_."

Skylar narrowed her eyes vindictively. "Well, I hope he drowns... That man ruined my sunglasses."

Amy wheeled around with fury in her eyes as she broke free from Rory's arms, striking out with an outstretched hand and slapping Skylar hard across the right cheek with a resounding smack, sending the girl toppling down onto the floor with the force **(3)**. "Say that again if you dare! Come on!"

Still lying on the floor, Skylar placed her right hand upon her stinging cheek, using her left index finger to point accusingly at Amy. "You're crazy!"

The Scottish woman took a step towards the girl as her lips curled up into a sinister smile. "I've heard worse from an entire _village_ when I was a kid. They didn't believe that the Doctor existed. Oh, I proved them wrong. I proved them wrong indeed..."

Szac tensed up. "What do we do now? Amy's out of control!"

Katrina placed a hand on the furious woman's shoulder, stopping Amy from advancing upon the downed Skylar. "Amy, calm down, please! People are staring!"

"So what? Let them! I don't care!"

"That's not the Amy I know!"

Amy stared darkly at Katrina. "The Amy you know has decided to take a vacation for a bit."

"And what would the Doctor think?"

"What do you know about him? You haven't traveled with him for as long as I have!"

"I've traveled with him long enough to know that he'd be pleased with your piety. Now, focus it upon finding him again! Unova's east river isn't exactly a small span of water, you know. The important thing now is to report this to the bridge's authorities. They're going to want to know how a section of the bridge's wall gave out like that." Katrina sighed with relief as she watched Amy cool down slightly at her words. "I have a plan in the meantime. Can't Sophie use her Pidgeotto and her Dewott to find the Doctor somewhere down the river? If Rory's right, the Doctor should still be fine."

Sophie perked up. "Oh yes! Why didn't I think about that?"

Before the girl could send out Rustle and Diver, the desperate squeals of the Fire Pig Pokemon penetrated her ears, prompting Rory to glance at an approaching Tepig. "Tepig?" W-What's u-up?" The nurse followed Tepig's glance, immediately noticing the absence of another of the Doctor's Pokemon. "Hey, w-where's Snivy?"

Nigel bit his lip as his mouth struggled to form coherent words. "I-I t-think T-T-T-Tepig-g-g is t-t-trying-g-g to say t-that Snivy-y-y-y j-j-jumped-d o-off t-t-the bridge-e-e-e a-a-as w-w-w-well-l-l-l." Tepig immediately nodded at Nigel's words.

Muyoko gasped. "What? But why would Snivy do something like that?"

Rory cupped his chin. "I've noticed that Snivy seemed awfully close to Oshawott sometimes. I wonder..."

Al rolled her eyes. "All I can garner is that the Doctor himself, his assistants, and his Pokemon are one insane bunch. Why did I agree to travel with them again?"

Muyoko groaned. "Because they're headed to Castelia City and Nimbasa City just like us?"

Al sighed. "Please don't remind me..." Before the girl could continue any further, a loud crash thundered below the group, followed in rapid succession by a series of further crashes sounding across the Castelia City bound vehicular lanes under the pedestrian walkway, immediately drawing the group's attention to their source.

Before any of them could investigate the crashes in depth, a man in a blue police officer uniform ran onto the walkway. "Everyone is to clear the walkway and head to the bridge gates at once in an orderly manner! There's been a massive pile-up on the lanes below!"

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Vehicular Lanes, January 20, 2011, 12:30 p.m.)_

His back rested firmly against the driver's seat, with his hands clasping the steering wheel tightly, the driver of a tractor trailer sighed at the monotony of his job as he turned up the radio built into his dashtop. His assignment, deliver a container full of eggs into Castelia City. The job required patience and delicate handling on the trucker's part, as even a slight bump of his vehicle against another surface could compromise the quality of the delivered goods and reduced his salary at payday.

Reaching out with his left hand, the trucker attempted to kill his boredom as he stroked the fur of a creature resting still in the passenger's seat, its eyes dropped closed, slow but steady rumbling noises from its mouth providing the only indication that it was alive. The creature was slender in appearance with the frame of a feline, its mouth, front neck, underbelly and lower legs colored yellow, with the top of its frame, back of its neck, and tail possessing a purple hue. Closed for now, its green eyes were surrounded by pink patterns around them, and it had two long pairs of whiskers elongated from the sides of its cheeks. Its back was dotted with yellow rosettes, standing in stark contrast to the purple fur.

The trucker scratched between the creature's ears, eliciting a short purr from its mouth as it turned slightly on the seat. "Just hold on Liepard, we're almost into Castelia City now." His hand returned to its place on the steering wheel as he chuckled slightly, his tongue rolling over the cigarette pressed between his lips to keep himself awake and aware. "Wish I could take a catnap myself right about now..." The trucker let out a sigh of ease as he eyed the road ahead, the sound of his eighteen wheels of steel rumbling down the asphalt of the Skyarrow Bridge, having navigated the long and winding road built on the outskirts of Pinwheel Forest to reach that point. Speaking of Pinwheel Forest, his mind wandered as he vaguely recalled the location being the site of a large fire two days ago, but he paid the news little heed. He had a delivery to complete. An hour from now and he would be relaxing on a bed in the local Pokemon Center with his Liepard, having entered Castelia City and concluding his delivery with the collection of a fat check in his wallet. Having spent the prior twelve hours on the road non-stop without rest, the thought lingered in his mind as he noted that his cigarette had burned to its limit.

The trucker absent-mindedly tossed the butt out of his open window, paying the newly released piece of airborne jetsam little thought as he tuned his radio to the next avaliable station. Thus was the catalyst for a perfect storm to occur on the Skyarrow Bridge, for while the trucker fiddled with the knobs of his radio, he was left unprepared for the arrival of a slight gust of wind which blew his still smoldering cigarette butt back into his driver's cabin and onto his carpet, where it began sparking on the flammable fibers. Just one spark was enough to start a fire as small red flames leapt up from their point of origin, consuming the fibers around them for fuel.

Spun into a panic at the fire in his cabin, the trucker quickly moved to stamp out the flames, his hands dangerously lurching the steering wheel to the left, causing his tractor unit to suddenly veer in that direction, directly into the adjacent lane of traffic. Driving on the middle of three vehicular lanes to Castelia City did the trucker little good, for his tractor trailer began to jackknife where it stood on the road. An oncoming car soon smashed into the side of the tractor unit, while one behind the tractor trailer on the middle lane struck the back of the trailer, the impact causing the large container of eggs to swing into the right vehicular lane, where it shoved a passing car into the bridge's safety wall. The trapped car was ground against the wall for a few seconds by the trailer's back before it broke free, its driver unable to stop her vehicle before it skidded to the left, careening into the side of a nearby bus in the middle lane. The car collided with the bus' wheel, the force shattering the larger vehicle's axel, destabilizing it and causing it to lose traction as it toppled over on top on a car in the left lane, its superior weight compressing the other vehicle and those inside.

Unable to stop in time, the driver of another car on the left lane stomped down on his brakes, inadvertently initiating a skidding of his vehicle, directly into the car which had crashed into the tractor unit's side, grinding the other vehicle further into the tractor unit's frame. This was soon followed by another car sliding on spilled oil as it soon toppled over, its tires unable to grip the asphalt road. The toppled car slid on its top and into another car, stopping from moving any further. A cement mixer behind them crashed into the rear of the second car,squashing its rear end into a mess of compacted steel. The impact sloshed cement from the mixer onto the windscreen of a car in the middle lane, forcing its driver to swerve as his sight was suddenly deprived due to the grey compound. Steering hard to the right, his vehicle slammed into the side of a car in the right lane both vehicles skidding into the bridge's safety wall. The two cars creating an obstruction in the lane caused a third vehicle to hit them, followed by another that could not stop in time. One finally did, however, putting an end to the continus chain of smsahed vehicles in front. As quickly as they had begun, the crashes came to an abrupt halt, leaving a pile-up in their wake that spaned a significant length of the Skyarrow Bridge's Castelia City bound vehicular lanes.

As smoke billowed from the destroyed vehicles and fires began to ignite from fuel spilled onto the road, the sirens of ambulances soon joined the choas as they arrived on the scene. His hand forcing open the door of his driver's cabin, the driver of the tractor trailer eased himself from the wreckage of his mangled vehicle. As his feet landed on the asphalt, the driver grabbed clumps of his hair in despair when he laid eyes upon the accident he had caused on the Skyarrow Bridge, his memory hastily absorbing all the scenes of devastation before him. Realizing that his Liepard was still trapped in the driver's cabin, the man rushed to find the nearest paramedic, in the hopes that his Pokemon could be rescued.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Outskirts, January 20, 2011, 12:40 p.m.)_

Immediately feeling the rush of water drench his clothes, the Doctor instinctively brought his arms up to paddle down the river, keeping in line with its ocean bound current to accelerate his progress. Thanks to his respiratory system **(4)**, the Time Lord had little worry about running out of oxygen anytime soon and could focus all of his efforts in finding his Oshawott. He just had to hope that he did not wind up in the ocean before he accomplished that goal. The Doctor focused his mind on the forward direction of the river as he weighed Oshawott's options. _"Considering Oshawott's small size, he would logically advance down the river at a faster rate than me. Since his scalchop floats, he's bound to have retrieved it soon after jumping in here. Now the concern is if he managed to get out of the river or not from there. And if he did, whether he can make his way back to the Skyarrow Bridge in a timely manner... Ah Oshawott, leaping into a situation like this without thinking and worrying sick the people around him... Reminds me of, well, me..."_

The Time Lord raised his arm to continue swimming, only to stop when he felt a thin appendage wrap itself around his wrist, slightly impeding the movement of that arm. "What the?" The Doctor pulled his arm forward, quick to discover that he was not alone in this area of the river. "Snivy?" Dangling from her Trainer's wrist, the Grass Snake Pokemon looked up to give him a small, weak smile. "You want to go after Oshawott too, huh?"

Snivy nodded. "Vy. Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Snivy. Sni?"

"Frankly, I have no clue how long we'll be swimming for. Until we find Oshawott, I suppose..." Diving his head underwater to continue, the Doctor soon felt something poke into the hem of his trousers, causing him to yelp in surprise as the unexpectedly sharp object jabbed into his rear end. This was soon followed by tugging force exerted on his garment, which proceeded to pull him backwards against the river's current. Turning his head, the Doctor noticed that a small hook was the culprit behind his current discomfort, attached to a thin but strong line where the force came from. "What in the name of Gallifrey?"

A quick glance revealed the line to be attached to a fishing rod, wielded by a girl with a light tan skin tone standing on the riverbank. She was tall for her age of seventeen, standing at 6'0", with the Doctor's trained eye telling him that she weighed 128 lbs. She possessed pale orange elbow length hair, tied into pigtails with black ribbons, and golden eyes with two small tattooed black stars under her left one. The girl wore a white tank top, over which she donned a navy blue v-neck shirt. She also wore white shorts held up by a black Pokeball belt and neon blue hi-top shoes. Around her neck was a necklace with an Unown R pendant, while her wrists had three bangles each, the ones on her left wrist were silver while those on her right were gold. Resting on the grass next to her feet was an orange messenger bag, ostensibly serving the purpose of carrying her travel essentials.

The Doctor squinted as he saw seven Pokemon assisting the girl in pulling on her fishing rod, six of them a Floatzel, Bronzong, Luxray, Toxicroak, Flareon, and Torterra. The Doctor quickly noted that portions of the Torterra's body were golden yellow where they should be brown, identifying the creature as a shiny Pokemon. But what really drew his attention was the identity of the seventh Pokemon helping to extract him and his Snivy from the river. "Oshawott?" Snivy immediately perked up at her Trainer as she turned to look, noticing that her teammate was indeed present on the riverbank. A second later, the Time Lord and his Pokemon were abruptly yanked from the grasp of the rushing water, landing in a heap a meter away from the girl.

The Doctor groaned slightly from the impact as he pushed himself to his feet, and was quickly greeted by Oshawott. Scooping the little Pokemon into his arms, the Time Lord beamed. "Hey Oshawott. I see you found your scalchop. Good for you. I must say, you caused us quite the worry."

Turning his head, he noticed the girl address her Bronzong. "Now don't be using any attacks on that man, Bronze. I doubt he's dangerous. Besides, we're all out here, so the risk is low." The Doctor soon found himself approached by the girl. "That's your Oshawott, right? Caught the little fella swimming down the river, and before I knew it, a minute later, it saw you fast approaching and absolutely insisted that we pull you out. Of course, I would have done so anyway if I saw you."

Oshawott stepped forward as he noticed another familiar face accompanying his Trainer. "Osha?" _"Snivy?"_

The Grass Snake Pokemon let out a small chuckle. "Snivy. Vy. Snivy. Vy. Vy. Snivy. Snivy." _"Nice to see you too, Oshawott."_

"Wott. Wott. Osha. Wott. Oshawott. Osha. Oshawott. Oshawott. Wott. Osha. Osha. Osha?" _"The Doctor's my Trainer, but why did you follow me, Snivy?"_

Snivy huffed. "Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Sni. Sni. Snivy. Vy. Sni!" _"To make sure you didn't drown, you idiot!"_

"Oshawott chuckled lightly." "Osha? Wott. Wott. Wott. Osha. Oshawott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Oshawott." _"Drown? Snivy, I'm a water-type Pokemon. I'd say you're the one who's more likely to drown."_

Her left eye twitching, Snivy whirled around and smacked the Sea Otter Pokemon across the face with one of her vines. "Sni! Snivy. Vy. Snivy. Sni. Sni. Vy. Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Snivy. Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni?" _"You jerk! You make others worry about you and you have the cheek to tell me that?"_

Rubbing his cheek, the Sea Otter Pokemon's face lightened as it took on a concerned expression. "Osha. Osha?" _"I made you worry?"_

Snivy shook her head vigorously, hoping that the speed at which she did so was enough to mask from Oshawott's sight the red tint spreading across her cheeks. "Snivy? Sni! Vy. Sni. Snivy. Snivy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Vy. Snivy?" _"What? No! Why would I worry about your sorry butt?"_

Oshawott rolled his eyes. "Osha. Osha. Oshawott." _"You don't sound very convincing."_

The Grass Snake Pokemon threw her arms into the air. "Sni. Vy. Vy!" _"Oh just shut up!"_

The Sea Otter Pokemon laughed as a smirk developed upon his visage. "Osha. Wott. Oshawott. Oshawott… Wott. Wott. Oshawott. Wott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Wott." _"Gee, what a comeback… Admit it. You like me and you were worried about me."_

Snivy began to stumble over her words. "Vy- Vy… Sni… Snivy!" _"I-I... You... Ugh!"_ The Grass Snake Pokemon shrieked as she socked her teammate in the arm. "Sni. Vy. Vy!" "_You're such a jerk!"_

Oshawott chuckled he watched his teammate stomp away. "Wott. Wott. Oshawott..." _"That girl really is something…"_

The Sea Otter Pokemon perked up as he heard his Trainer mention him to the girl. "Yes, that's my Oshawott. Thank you for finding him. Dropped his scalchop over the Skyarrow Bridge and jumped in after it."

The girl bit her thumb. "So you went in after him? Sounds crazy if you ask me."

The Doctor laughed as he scratched Oshawott's head. "That's _exactly_ what I am. But then again, aren't we all at times?"

The girl shrugged. "Anyway, I'm Ruka Chance."

"In the absence of a name, just call me the Doctor."

"You must have a name…" prodded Ruka.

The Doctor chuckled mirthlessly. "Perhaps… How about John Smith?"

"Sounds like you just made that up a second ago."

"Maybe…"

Ruka sighed, realizing that she was getting nowhere with the Doctor on that point. "So, what are your plans now?"

"Oh, go find my companions back on the bridge and head into Castelia City for my next gym battle."

"I'm headed there too. Just came down here to fish, maybe find some water-type Pokemon, but so far, no bites, save for you and your Oshawott… Not what I was expecting, to be honest with you…"

The Doctor cracked his knuckles as he gazed at Ruka's Pokemon. "Well, Ruka, as a reward for pulling me out of the river, I'll evaluate your bonds with your Pokemon."

"Are you a Pokemon Connoisseur?" A flash of the Time Lord's psychic paper answered that question for Ruka. "Wow… S-Rank too…"

"Yes, now let me get down to it." The Time Lord cupped his chin as he gazed at Ruka's Pokemon. "Hmmm… Very well-trained, strong bonds too. Oh, very strong, which equals generally good compatibility. They've all been with you for quite a while, haven't they? Keep doing whatever you're doing with them, now that's a good way to strengthen that bond. You're bringing out their potential well. I can tell you love them a lot, don't you?"

Ruka scratched her head. "Yeah, I do, thanks and all. But wow... No cheesy food references?"

"Which Connoisseur was famous for making those up?"

"The White Prince was the first Connoisseur, so his most prominent successor in the trade. He was a chef, I think."

"Since you consider them cheesy, do you even _want_ me to use them?"

Ruka laughed as the humor in the Doctor's statement became clear. "I'll pass."

The Doctor beamed. "Saves me time to carry on with the rest of my evaluation. Albeit, not a perfect team though. The Luxray is a case in point. Lots of compatibility issues… That one needs work…" The aforementioned Pokemon growled softly, causing the Time Lord's ears to perk up. "Reminds me of Miri's Swellow actually, though I didn't say it at the time. Was in a rush to find Snivy and Tepig that day, so I gave Nathen and Miri's Pokemon a general, rushed evaluation… You remember that, Oshawott?" The Sea Otter Pokemon nodded.

Ruka raised an eyebrow, confused at the Time Lord's last few words. "What?"

"Forgive me, I must be rambling again. Anyway, the Torterra looks to me to be your strongest Pokemon here."

"She's my starter, and yes, that would be the case, right?" Ruka stared at her Pokemon, who nodded in agreement, respecting the position and status held by the Torterra in the girl's heart, save for her Luxray, which narrowed his eyes to slits.

"In the words of some of my successors, you _premium brand_."

"Premium brand?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Top Pokemon." No sooner had those two words left the Time Lord's mouth did he find Ruka's Luxray charging at him, teeth glowing a sparkling yellow. The Doctor stared calmly at the approaching Gleam Eyes Pokemon as Ruka gasped with a twisted mixture of surprise and horror. Before the Luxray could come within a meter of the Time Lord, a green vine stretched itself out in front of his legs, tripping him up. Displeased with the attempted attack on her Trainer, Snivy grasped the Luxray's forelegs with the vine before pulling the appendage to the side, unceremoniously dragging the Gleam Eyes Pokemon across the grass into the river, where he went with a loud splash.

Ruka stared at the seething Luxray, who just managed to stand up, water dripping from his frame. "No, Stunner, behave! You know what? Just return!" The girl held out Stunner's Pokeball, quickly returning the creature to it. "Sorry, Stunner thinks he's the strongest Pokemon around and doesn't take well to people saying otherwise. Hates to lose too. He used to be so sweet and loving. He just went wrong at some point… Your Snivy is strong for her size, I admit. Is she your premium brand?"

The Doctor shook his head. "A few people think that. Personally, I don't like the title. It's rather _hieratical_. Focuses on strength too much. I think all my Pokemon are top in their own special ways, and regard them as equals to each other. The truth is that not everyone can grow stronger, yet it's only right to treat them all equally. The fact that I got all of them at the same time means that they all had the same amount of time to train and bond with me. And trust me, considering how I met them, that bond is strong. Very strong indeed."

"I don't doubt that. You see your Pokemon as all equal to each other since you got them all at the same time. But say you get any more Pokemon, then the ones you have first would be your premium brands, at least that's the way I see it, since they trained more and had more opportunities to grow and blossom under you."

"Very observant, I like that. Wish my assistants could be too… Still won't use the term for my Pokemon though. Although, any newcomer to my team has the ability to _just surprise me_. I love surprises. Don't you just love surprises? They're just so wild and unpredictable and unknown! They could be peeking around the corner or be hidden in plain sight just waiting to work their magic on you!"

Ruka raised an eyebrow at the Doctor's rambling. "Uhhh…"

"Anyway, your Torterra does need some work in the speed department, so I suggest you work on that… Nice shine though. Shiny Pokemon _are_ rare." Ruka's Torterra narrowed her eyes as the leaves of the tree on her back glowed light green. A second passed before a cyclone of wind inlaid with light green leaves billowed from the tree towards the Doctor. Unfazed, the Time Lord seemingly vanished into thin air before the attack could hit him, blowing across the air above the river instead.

Ruka and her Torterra were stunned. "Where did he go?"

"Right behind you." The girl whirled around, noticing the Doctor standing near the Continent Pokemon's rear, chuckling at the stunned looks on the faces of Ruka and all her Pokemon at his spontaneous reappearance. The Time Lord smiled smugly at the girl. "If that's your Torterra's way of telling me she isn't slow, well, she just proved my point. I could pop a few Jammie Dodgers in my mouth, chew and swallow them, and then digest them in the space of time it takes that Leaf Storm to hit a target, which is apparently me." Irritated at being called "slow" again, the Torterra launched another Leaf Storm at the Doctor, the Time Lord once again disappearing and causing the attack to miss. The Doctor smirked as he reappeared next to his Snivy and Oshawott. "You know, I could keep this up all day. Good exercise."

Ruka sighed as she saw how the Doctor kept provoking her Torterra. "Stop, Treetop! You're wasting your energy if you keep going!" Treetop sighed as she reluctantly complied with her Trainer's request, shooting the Doctor a dirty look. "That speed, it just isn't human…" The girl bit her lip as she recalled some words she had read from a history book while doing some research on Unova shortly before her arrival in the region.

_Legend has it that the two princes of Unova possessed extraordinary speed and reflexes for even men of their age at the peak of fitness. As such, whenever they clashed in duels of the sword, their movements and actions were a sight to behold for all who witnessed them. Such nimble footwork allowed them to dodge and counter attacks with precision unsurpassed by anyone else in the kingdom. This was certainly to the detriment of an opponent who faced a prince of Unova and was not himself the other._

The Doctor smirked as he crossed his arms, his words visibly unnerving Ruka and Treetop. "I dodged _lightning_ from _Zekrom_, you know. What's a _Leaf Storm_ from a _mere Torterra_ in comparison **(5)**?" In pride, Snivy crossed her own arms and Oshawott puffed his chest out as their Trainer boasted.

"Zekrom? John Smith…" Ruka scratched her head as she began to make a connection. "I recognize something from the papers… Wait, are you that researcher who encountered Zekrom in Nuvema Town at the end of last month?" The Time Lord's smirk grew wider. "_What_ are you?"

The Doctor chuckled. "The truth might just blow your mind, Ruka. Or, to put it more bluntly, your mind might just not have the capacity to understand it. Oh yes, one more thing I noticed about your Pokemon, in particular, your Bronzong." The Time Lord strode up to Ruka, deliberately bumping into her side, sarcastically staring where he had made contact. "Oops…" The Bronzong seemed to flare up at the action, firing a Confuse Ray at the Doctor, who casually sidestepped, staring with indifference as the attack whizzed past his frame. The Bronze Bell Pokemon soon found a Razor Shell attack strike its side, courtesy of Oshawott, the force knocking both Pokemon away in opposite directions. Recovering first, Oshawott shot a Water Gun down his clear line of sight at Bronze, the attack quickly making its mark, pushing himself and his opponent back further from each other. The Sea Otter Pokemon soon closed this gap with Aqua Jet, shooting forward to strike Bronze hard. The Doctor turned to stare at Ruka as his Oshawott launched those attacks, his voice adopting an undertone that brought chills to the girl's spine. "I saw you talk to your Bronzong just after you pulled me out of the river. You thought I wasn't dangerous. Well, you're wrong. Trust me, I'm the _most dangerous_ person you'll ever know, Ruka."

Ruka stared at Oshawott and Bronze in desperation. "Stop fighting, please!"

"In its quest to defend you, your Bronzong lacks restraint, firing attacks at people as if they were the targets in a shooting range. I may be dangerous alright, but most people you cross paths with certainly are not. If you wish to improve your bond with your Bronzong, teach it that, and some manners too. It'll do wonders for your social appearance if the people around you aren't wary of a Bronzong that might attack them because it perceives some unfounded threat to you. And you won't be on edge worrying if your Bronzong will embarrass you with that behavior or not." The Time Lord tilted his head to the side to prevent a wayward Confuse Ray from striking his face. "By the way, are you going to control your Pokemon or do I have to do it for you? And believe me, it won't be pretty for them if I have to do it."

Ruka tensed up, unnerved at the Doctor's words. "Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a _promise_, should it get to that point." Biting her lip, the girl quickly returned Bronze to its Pokeball, avoiding a possible escalation in its brawl with Oshawott. "If your Pokemon attack me while I'm evaluating their bond with you, it seems like they can't take criticism. The blokes at Team Plasma would have used what happened as a reason people and Pokemon should be separated, labeled you as a Trainer holding back your Pokemon."

"That's…not true…"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is it not? Before me, the truth will lay itself bare… Don't allow doubt to seep into your frame." Ruka sighed as she contemplated the Doctor's words. "Now, I have to get back to the Skyarrow Bridge. I'll say this again. Nicely trained Pokemon you have overall, just have some kinks to work out. And by the way, thanks for the rescue, feel free to come along if you are going the same way as me." The Time Lord turned his back on the girl, beckoning his two Pokemon to follow. Ruka gazed at her own Pokemon, recalling them, as she quickly made a snap decision to follow the strange man.

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Castelia City Bridge Gate, January 20, 2011, 12:50 p.m.)_

"Park rangers are still in the process of evaluating the damage sustained by the Pinwheel Forest in light of the massive fire that broke out in its boundaries two days ago. Its epicenter was at the site of the Rumination Field, believe by researchers to be the home of the Legendary Pokemon Virizion, the guardian of Pinwheel Forest and the Pokemon that live within. Despite the estimated severity of the blaze, it was seemingly contained and put out before it could spread to the majority of the forest, a feat that a team of veteran firefighters would struggle to accomplish. As such, researchers are speculating on the possibility that Virizion may be involved in this incident. Researchers have also located a twisted metal wreck of indiscernible origin and several metal robotic parts scattered both within the wreck and near Rumination Field. Investigations are ongoing."

Amy sighed as she stared at the television screen mounted on the wall within the bridge gate building, shaking her head as she saw the reporter continue to deliver the news. She stared down at her chest, running her fingers through the hair of the girl pressed against her frame. "Shhh... It'll be okay, Katrina. You're safe here."

Katrina trembled within Amy's protective embrace. "Are they still burning down there on the bridge? All those cars?"

"Yeah."

"Make them go away…please…"

Amy sighed again. "I wish I could, Katrina… You didn't really look, did you? Back in Pinwheel Forest when Virizion killed that Cyber-Leader?"

"No, I tried not to. But I could still see the flames, their light burning through my eyelids. I saw that orange light anyway… You and Rory just rushed me out of the room when Virizion left, stopped me from seeing those dead Cybermen in the corridors. And also that dead Mandibuzz... You made sure I didn't see it too much. "

"You don't want to look at the TV, do you?"

Katrina shook her head as she pressed her cheek into the woman's chest. "No, I know they're going to show footage in a minute… Footage of that pile-up…" The girl squeezed her eyes shut as her voice began to crack, a small teardrop running down her cheek, which soaked into Amy's sweater. "I shouldn't have looked down when that man told us to go to the bridge gate. The fire was burning, from those wrecks, sending smoke into the sky…"

Amy briefly gazed at the television. "In other news, we are on sight at the Skyarrow Bridge, which has found itself in the center of today's drama, as two separate incidents took place there in the space of ten minutes. First up, on the pedestrian walkway, a man and two of his Pokemon plunged into Unova's east river…"

Noticing the Doctor's Tepig wrapped in the Time Lord's tweed jacket, the woman's hand stroked the girl's silky brown tresses, as she tore her eyes away from the screen, suppressing her own woes at the disappearance of the Doctor. "Shush, you're in shock."

"Just make it go away…" muttered Katrina.

"What happened to you? Why are you so afraid of those big fires and the wrecks?" The girl stiffened in the woman's arms, prompting Amy to hastily amend her words. "If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to tell me, but it would be better to let it all out."

"My family's barn burned down a few years back, when I was younger. I was caught… Caught in the blaze… There were flames everywhere… Everywhere I turned, fire would block my way, smoke choking my lungs, taking my breath slowly away... I would have died that day if the fire department didn't come in time…"

"It's okay, you're safe and sound right here."

"I know, but every time I hear about a car accident, I just…" Katrina trailed off as several teardrops escaped the corners of her eyes…My mother… She died in a car accident when I was a kid. I lived in Solaceon Town in the Sinnoh region, and well, it's a very rural town… I was a sickly child, kept getting sick, so Mom had to go with my older sister Rue to Jubilife City and get medicine. On one of those trips, there was that accident. My mother died, and Rue was crippled, confined to a wheelchair ever since. I never stopped feeling guilty for that, since they got hurt caring for me!" More teardrops flowed as Amy began to dab at Katrina's face with a tissue to wipe them away.

Amy continued to stroke Katrina's hair. "You lost your mother, I know how that feels… I lost my parents too, not by death, just…in a different way. For a long while **(6)**, I just didn't have any. Had to grow up under my aunt's care."

"What happened?" asked Katrina.

"The Doctor brought them back. He brought my parents back to me, and for that, I am eternally grateful to him…"

"You really look up to him, huh?" Amy nodded as a small smile appeared on Katrina's face. "I hope he's okay then…"

"Lower down on the bridge, in the middle of the traffic lanes bound for Castelia City, a multi-vehicle pile-up…"

Amy gritted her teeth as her ears received an unwelcome line from the television. "Katrina, look away. Rory! Can you turn that thing off? Or at least lower the volume?" The woman narrowed her eyes as she earned herself several frowns from the occupants of the bridge gate.

Rory started to speak. "Amy, I don't think…"

"Just do it before I throw a shoe at the TV, or better yet, your head!" The Scottish woman snarled at the people staring at her. "What are you all looking at? Mind your own bloody business!" The people hastily turned away in response.

"…while there are no reported fatalities, many remained trapped in their vehicles as rescuers are currently on the scene trying to sort out the wreckage from this pile-up. Hold on…" The reporter halted as she examined her view of the accident. "It looks like a man and a teenaged girl have just gotten past the police barricades and is on the scene of the accident!"

Szac jerked his thumb at the screen as he saw a familiar figure run into view, dressed in drenched clothes, a girl following behind him. "Rory, look!"

Sophie's eyes widened as she watched the live footage. "That's the Doctor!"

Tepig began to jump up as he saw the screen. "Pig. Te!"

"The Doctor's down there, on the traffic lanes!" exclaimed Muyoko.

"Well, that's a new development… Looks like the Doctor really is quite resilient." deadpanned Al.

Rory held his breath, unsure of sighting's authenticity as told by his companions. "You're kidding!"

Muyoko shook her head. "No, he's right there, at the accident site! Right, Nigey?"

Nigel's face turned white. "Y-Yes-s-s…"

Skylar huffed as Rory stared at the screen to verify his companions' words. "He didn't drown then…"

Amy clenched a hand into a fist. "You were hoping for that?" Skylar immediately shirked away in response. The woman turned to her husband. "Is it true?"

Rory leaned into his wife's ear, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Yeah…"

Amy beamed as she planted a quick kiss on her husband's cheek. "That's all I need to know."

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Vehicular Lanes, January 20, 2011, 1:15 p.m.)_

The Doctor let out a sigh as he stared at the destruction and chaos that lay before him. Strewn about the lanes was a vast expense of twisted vehicle wrecks, flames dancing atop their frames. Paramedics rushed to and fro between the destroyed cars, attempting to rescue as many people and Pokemon as they humanly could. "Blimey… I leave the Skyarrow Bridge for a 35 minutes and this is what happens when I come back…"

Behind the Time Lord, Ruka gazed at the scene in abject shock. "What a pile-up!"

The Doctor breathed another sigh as he observed paramedics rush from vehicle to vehicle, searching for casualties to rescue. "Well, these things just happen."

"How exactly did you get us past the police barricades anyway? You just flashed them your card and they let you in, saying you were a paramedic… Wait, wasn't that your Connoisseur license? You showed it to me earlier."

The Time Lord chuckled as he showed the girl his psychic paper. "Psychic paper. Never leave home without it. Works when I need to get into, and sometimes out of, various situations…"

"So that blank white card lets you into a bunch of places by changing what people see on it. How does that work?"

"Well, imagine a skeleton key that can open any door, offering me unrestricted access to any location I choose. But replace the doors with people, like those police officers barricading this section of the bridge, and the locks with their eyes. Locks will only accept keys that fit them, this skeleton key is tailored to do just that, fit in any lock, so the key must be adjustable to all those locks. You get any of that so far?"

Ruka yawned. "I think you lost me at 'any location I choose'."

The Doctor shrugged. "Just as well, because it's nothing like that at all."

"Well, why are we just standing here talking? We've gotta help someone!"

Before the Time Lord could respond, a man rushed up to him, frustration creasing his features as he pointed out another man in the crowd. "Hey! Are you an insurance agent?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Insurance agent?"

The man ignored the Time Lord's question. "Just what I was looking for! See, this guy crashed into me and is refusing to give me his insurance information! So I need you to run…"

The other man interrupted with a snarl. "Don't listen to him! He crashed into _me_!"

A woman stormed into the Doctor's field of vision. "That's a lie! Your car ran mine into the wall and you know it!"

A pompous man in a suit cleared his throat. "Oi! Might I remind you all that my car just had a few scrapes. I believe I should be the first person to file a claim with the insurance agent here, so you lot can get back to bickering."

A woman screeched. "You're one to talk! The only reason that's the case is because my car was beside yours and took the brunt of the impact! That would have gone to yours if I wasn't there! I think I should get first dibs on a claim!"

A man donning torn and slightly burned clothing seethed. "Yeah, right! My car was turned over! I could have died back there! I'm the one…"

A woman shoved the man aside. "Says you! Save it for someone that cares, will you? Now my car…"

The Doctor's left eye twitched dangerously as the cacophony of voices began to irritate his auditory canals. "SHUT UP! **SHUT UP!** I'M GOING TO KICK THE NEXT PERSON THAT SAYS ANYTHING _SO HIGH_, THEY WON'T COME DOWN UNTIL THE NEXT AWAKENING OF RESHI-!"

The Time Lord was soon brought out of his outburst as a paramedic shouted out loud. "That Liepard's windpipe is compromised! It isn't getting enough oxygen! Come on, stay with me! Stay with me!" The Doctor tilted his head in the direction of the voice, soon noticing two paramedics close to a tractor trailer in the thick of the pile-up, crouched over a Liepard lying on the side of the road, an oxygen mask cupped over its face. Smashed on the asphalt were the remains of several eggs, having fallen out of the vehicle's trailer. The driver stood to the side, his hands tensely clutching his hat.

The Doctor turned to face Ruka. "I think that Liepard needs a Doctor… **(7)** Do you have a pen?"

Ruka bit her lip as she handed the Time Lord a plastic ballpoint pen. "What are you going to do?"

"Just watch." The Time Lord strode over to the Cruel Pokemon, snapping the pen in half as he went, and tossing away the pen's internal parts. Pushing aside a paramedic, the Doctor raised one half of the plastic pen body above his head.

The other paramedic gasped. "Wait, what are you…" The Time Lord gave her no time to finish her sentence as he plunged the jagged end of the plastic tube half into the Liepard's throat, smiling as he felt the Cruel Pokemon's skin and sinew give way to the pressure, the tube sliding into the puncture made. Stepping back, the Doctor admired his handiwork, a plastic tube jutting eerily from of the Cruel Pokemon's neck, a trickle of blood flowing from the edge of the wound, staining the creature's yellow fur and the asphalt upon which it lay crimson. The paramedic gasped as she noted oxygen flowing into the Liepard's lungs through the plastic tube, sustaining it. "A cricothyrotomy…" She shook her head and glared up at the Time Lord. "Are you even qualified to do that? You could have killed that Liepard!" The Doctor wordlessly produced his psychic paper and flashed it in her face. "Oh… I guess you are then… Quick, bring the Liepard to the Pokemon Center!" The Cruel Pokemon was hoisted onto a stretcher and brought into an ambulance, as the driver of the tractor trailer followed his Pokemon.

The Doctor pouted. "Hmmm… And not even a 'thank you'… Anyway, I just bought the Liepard about 45 minutes of time. Should be enough for the paramedics to rush it to the Pokemon Center and give it more definitive care. After all, a cricothyrotomy is only a temporary measure."

"You're really a doctor then?" asked Ruka.

The Time Lord smirked. "Of a great many things, yes."

"What did you do?"

"That was a cricothyrotomy, making an emergency opening in the windpipe to let air in during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma. It's usually a last resort."

Ruka bit her lip. "That was really risky."

"Considering how many blood vessels and nerves there are in the neck…" The Doctor did not get the chance to finish as he was soon swarmed by reporters wanting to know how he saved the Liepard. "Oh blimey…"

* * *

_(Skyarrow Bridge, Castelia City Bridge Gate, January 20, 2011, 1:30 p.m.)_

Amy breathed a sigh of relief as she stared at the television screen, watching as the Doctor answered questions from reporters. "The Doctor did it… He really did it…"

Sophie nodded. "He saved that Liepard. I didn't know he could do that."

"He's just full of surprises, isn't he?" muttered Rory.

A man soon stepped into the room, wringing residual river water from his clothes. "Blimey, those reporters are relentless…"

Amy smiled. "Doctor!"

The attendant at the bridge gate's desk stared at the Doctor with a start. "Isn't that the guy that fell off the bridge earlier today?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, that's me, so you can call off your search party now. Not that they'll do any good at this time."

"I must apologize for how the bridge's wall failed and that caused you to fall into the river."

Skylar stood up with a start. "The bridge's wall didn't fail! The Doctor…" Rory soon lunged at the girl, slapping a hand over her mouth before she could get another word out, earning him a strange look from the attendant. "Mmm! Mmmph!"

The Doctor shrugged, ignoring the strange looks he received from Szac, Sophie, Katrina, Muyoko, Al, and Nigel. "No matter. That wasn't exactly the first time, and I doubt it'll be the last either." He strode over to Tepig, still wrapped up in his tweed jacket. "Thanks for holding on to my jacket, Tepig. By the way, is _it_ safe?"

The Fire Pig Pokemon nodded as he procured the red jewelry box from a pocket. "Pig."

"That's good to know."

"Pig. Te. Te. Pig. Pig. Tepig."

The Doctor's eyes widened in shock. "What? It almost fell off the bridge?"

"Te. Te. Te Pig. Pig. Tepig. Tepig. Pig. Pig."

"Ah, but Snivy caught it. What a relief! Note to self: be more careful with that thing…"

"Te. Pig. Pig. Te. Te. Pig. Pig. Te. Pig. Te. Te. Pig. Tepig?"

"Yeah, I found Snivy and Oshawott, safe and sound. Oshawott got his scalchop back too."

Amy stared suspiciously at the Doctor's exchange with Tepig. _"Why are the Doctor and his Pokemon so protective of that little red box? Something's up with that, I'm sure of it."_

The Doctor perked up as he noticed his newly acquired companion enter the room and walk up to his group. "Hello there, I'm Ruka Chance."

Still keeping a firm hold of Skylar, Rory nodded in the newcomer's direction. "I'm Rory, and this is my wife Amy." The nurse proceeded to point out each of his companions in turn. "That's Katrina, Sophie, Muyoko, Al, Szac, Nigel, and the girl I'm holding is Skylar."

Ruka looked puzzled. "Why are you covering her mouth?"

Before Rory could respond, the attendant hung up a phone, having finished a conversation on the line. "Officer Jenny wants a word with all of you. It's about the Doctor falling into the river from the bridge, so she's hoping you could all assist her with investigations."

Skylar broke free from Rory's grasp. "Good, now I can finally tell her tha-…" The Doctor gazed sharply into Skylar's eyes, smirking as the sky-blue orbs quickly glazed over, and the girl ceased her talking. After what had happened to her so far that day due to the Doctor, Rory, and Amy, the girl should know better than to speak where the Time Lord did not welcome it. And yet she still persisted. The Doctor most certainly had his ways of dealing with such people. His eyes briefly turned ivory-white as he began telepathically sending mental instructions into Skylar's brain, partially reprogramming her behavior for the next few hours.

Amy turned to the group, lowering her voice to a whisper to make it inaudible to others. "I'd say what the Doctor wants you all to say if I were you, unless you want what happened to Skylar to affect you too."

"Now there's a conspiracy… What's he doing to her?" muttered Al.

"Hypnosis." replied Amy.

Szac groaned. "He can do that? Looks like we have no real choice in the matter…"

Katrina shuddered. "Getting hypnotized sounds scary…"

Sophie nodded. "I certainly won't want to experience it."

Muyoko hugged her boyfriend close to her frame. "Don't look Nigey, or you'll get affected too!" Nigel timidly averted his gaze.

Ruka was amazed. "I've just met the Doctor, and he really doesn't seem very human to me…"

Amy sighed. _"If only you knew the truth about him..." _"Who would believe that such a device like the sonic screwdriver or psychic paper exists anyway?"

The Doctor beamed as he broke eye contact with Skylar, his job complete. His smile gave no inkling that anything was amiss. "Alright then, let's go meet Officer Jenny now, shall we?"

* * *

_(Nuvema Town, Professor Juniper's Laboratory, Living Room, January 20, 2011, 1:30 p.m.)_

Relaxing on her sofa, Professor Juniper stared attentively at the news broadcast on her television. "Mmmm… The Doctor really is something, isn't he, Spencer?"

Adam rolled his one good eye as he bit his lip. "Whatever you say, Professor."

"It's been a while since I went to Castelia City. But I told you that already, didn't I?"

"Sure."

Professor Juniper turned the television off as the reporter shifted the focus away from the Doctor. "Maybe we might run into the Doctor again, since he's likely there to challenge the gym. That man really impresses me."

Adam gritted his teeth at the professor's praise of the Doctor. "Shall I continue with any more preparations?"

The professor waved Adam off. "Oh, there's no need. It's only a small trip."

"A 'small trip' to see if a lighthouse is more than it appears to be, right?"

"I wonder how no one thought to explore it for all these centuries. Maybe everyone simply assumed it was just an old deserted lighthouse and left it alone."

"Professor, it _is_ an old, deserted lighthouse."

"Which may have been built by the White Prince himself. When you think about it, it was a very secluded spot, perfect for a hideout. I could slap myself for not coming to that conclusion earlier."

"Secluded? You can see it in the distance from Castelia's port!"

"In the present day, yes. Don't forget that centuries ago, back in the White Prince's time, Castelia City was located where the Desert Resort is today. The destruction wrought by the dragons forced the population to relocate further south. Therefore, in the past, it _would_ have been a secluded spot, since no one lived in the immediate vicinity back then. When you think about it, given that fact, the island is quite isolated and it's a very awkward location for a lighthouse. The island that Unity Tower is built on would be a far better spot to build a lighthouse for guiding ships into Unova's waters."

Adam looked skeptical. "Are you sure, Professor?"

Professor Juniper stood up from her sofa. "The hideout the White Prince built needed to be secluded, and few people could know about it, hence the island was a good candidate. I think he chose to disguise it as a lighthouse because anyone would _did_ come across it would assume it was a deserted tower and not give it a second thought, let alone contemplate _why_ it was built there."

"You don't think…"

"I do, Spencer. That lighthouse could very well be what we were looking for all this time. And I'm not the only one to think that. Several researchers are also suspecting the same thing. Daniel said he'd check it out as well. I might give the Doctor a ring on his Xtransceiver too. I guess I should invite him there. Maybe Nathen's parents, Zachary and Mai Pierce as well. I sense that place will become a real hotbed for research soon."

"Are you going to inform your assistants?" asked Adam.

"Considering how sensitive the matter is, not at the moment."

"And yet you're informing me."

"You're coming with me, aren't you?"

"Of course."

Professor Juniper beamed. "Good!"

Adam paused as his cell phone began to ring. "Excuse me, Professor." Stepping out into the corridors between the laboratory's rooms, the man answered the call. "Hello?"

A stoic voice spoke out from the other end. "Is it true that Professor Juniper plans on making a trip to Castelia City?"

"Yes, I confirmed that with her just this morning."

"Did she state the reason why?"

"She thinks that the lighthouse on the island accessible from Castalia's port warrants further investigation, and suspects that it could be the White Prince's tower. His retreat for a special friend."

The voice appeared to be enlightened. "Ah…"

Adam cleared his throat. "What are my instructions?"

"Follow Professor Juniper and keep a close eye on her and what she manages to dig up. If her hunch is correct, strike. Further instructions will be given as they come."

"Yes sir."

With that, Adam terminated the call.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 20, 2011, 7 p.m.)_

Ghetsis smirked as he took his place at a table, around which sat six other men. "Gentlemen, I bring you all a remarkable piece of news tonight."

"And what would that be?" asked the third man.

Ghetsis eyed the black softball-sized stone sphere on the table, now accompanied by a white stone of identical proportions next to it. Missed by his compatriots, the man shot the black stone a fleeting glance of distaste. "Our agents tell us that they have likely discerned the definitive location where one of the White Prince's Legendary Pokemon sleeps. We now have another of his Legendary Pokemon and two of the Black Prince's in our possession. Should we manage to secure this Pokemon, according to legend, victory will never slip through our grasp again."

The sixth man chuckled. "That would indeed bring us an edge over our opposition."

Ghetsis gritted his teeth. "Provided we can obtain the Pokemon in the first place. With the recent buzz on the matter, the area will likely be _infested_ with tourists and researchers alike. Which is why we must work some _crowd control_, so to speak."

Gorm shrugged. "I'm sure something can be worked out in that regard, Ghetsis."

"Yes, but enough of that. How is the Dream Mist project coming along?"

The fifth man sighed. "We've tried projecting our messages into the dreams of the few people we can reach using our stolen Munna as a test run, but the results we have aren't very convincing."

"How so?" asked Ghetsis.

"Monitoring our subjects, it appears that several have forgotten what they dreamt about after waking up, or if they do remember, simply dismiss those dreams as an unconscious recollection or byproduct of something they heard in the past. After all, we did hold frequent rallies and saturated the region's media with our advertisements."

"What are our chances of going large scale?"

"Ill-advised, since such an endeavor would take up a large amount of resources, catching all those Munna and Musharna would require much effort, especially since they are adept at hiding in the Dreamyard."

The seventh man sighed. "As our test runs yielded little positive results, going large scale would likely bring about the same on a city-wide scale. In fact, had our scheme at the Dreamyard succeeded, I don't doubt that would have been the outcome."

"Additionally, the boy must be kept in the dark about this too. He would surely disapprove if he finds out. Going large scale would also make it harder to keep that experiment a secret." remarked the sixth man.

"It would appear that we have angered the Doctor by taking his assistant's Munna as well. Considering the fact that we know who he _really is_, perhaps that move should not have been executed in the first place."

"I see."

The seventh man nodded. "Placating him would be an advisable move for now, that is until we can get our hands on that Legendary Pokemon."

The sixth man bit his lip. "But will it work with us? It belonged to the White Prince after all."

Ghetsis pounded his fist on the table. "It will find that it has no choice in the matter! Regardless of how strong it is, it remains one thing and one thing only! A Pokemon! No more, no less. Never forget that, gentlemen."

"The Doctor might head there himself, for all we know." added Gorm.

Ghetsis sneered. "We'll cross that bridge when the time comes."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 20, 2011, 11:30 p.m.)_

"_No one is here that can disturb me, and that means no interruptions. Perfect."_ Relaxing his frame on one of the couches offered to visiting Trainers, the Doctor pulled his backpack onto his lap, retrieving a closed steel box that he proceeded to pry open. Removing the manila folder from the box, the Time Lord thumbed through the sheets of typed paper within, soon finding the one he was looking for. The Doctor held the page to his eyes as he quickly skimmed its contents. _"Alright, let's see what else they have to say, shall we?"_

* * *

_-2-_

_K: M?_

_M: Yes._

_K: M?_

_M: Yes._

_K: And K, that would be me. Everyone is accounted for, L._

_I: Shall we get down to business?_

_L: Lets shall._

_M: Well, let us focus on the main issues now, starting with T. He is certainly in heaps of trouble for that stunt he pulled with the other immature delinquent._

_F: Well put, M._

_M: To start, T is an interesting one. Nothing seems to get past his notice, eh?_

_T: The one with the inclination for fire-type Pokemon? His dragon, R, is a fire-type, he has another fire-type Legendary in the form of V, and his E is a fire-type as well..._

_O: It is no coincidence. After all, this is connected to a fiery passion to seek the truth._

_L: A little evaluation of T's beliefs. He is our truth seeker, yes. The courage of truth… It burns so strongly within him… And he has the wisdom to seek it out and discern it when he finds it. _

_R: Indeed. The fiery passion of truth that keeps past tradition alive and burning, transferring between generations and ensuring that it will never be forgotten, even as time passes on and cultures change._

_M: Since when have you gotten so philosophical, R?_

_R: I think it has to be from the books I've been reading. Regardless, truth is an idea that will keep on persisting in the minds of all intelligent races, constantly battling for dominance the quest for ideals and the discovery of one that would trigger the drive to change the world._

_M: T never did enjoy too many sweeping changes to the world he knows in a short span of time. Also he believed that truth encompassed the fact that only a few people can grow stronger, their duty being to protect the remainder._

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 20, 2011, 11:35 p.m.)_

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he replaced the sheet of paper he had just read. _"Ah, starting to really pry now, are they? They could never keep their hands off things they weren't supposed to touch… Then again, neither could I, or he, for that matter… The nature of the truth... It was always something I spent a good chunk of my life trying to figure out. I'd like to think its fiery passion does burns deep within me. I wonder what else they have to say, but I guess that is something for another day…"_

The Time Lord stowed the steel box back into his backpack as he strode off towards his room. _"Time for bed. After the incident at Skyarrow Bridge, there really wasn't any time to see Castelia City at all, what with Officer Jenny wanting statements from us about how I fell into the river and what I did to save that Liepard. My companions were generally cooperative with me and said that the bridge's fall failed, leading to my fall. A pity that I had to hypnotize Skylar… She would have blabbered out the whole truth otherwise. And I can't have that at this point in time. Sometimes, the truth might need to be suppressed for a little while longer…"_ The Doctor paused for a second to chuckle at the irony of his last thought. _"The Hero of Truth thinking that truth should be concealed… Might I be becoming like him a bit? If so, what is the world coming to these days? There are times where I find myself lost for the answer…"_

* * *

Author's Notes: I must say, it has been quite a long while since my last update, hasn't it? Well, I once again apologize for the length of time I took, but my workload really does pile up, and would likely do so for the foreseeable future. With that, I'm not really sure when I can update the story again. I do hope that this chapter makes up for it in your eyes, however. My thanks go to Master of the Boot for his suggesting of the pile-up idea on the Skyarrow Bridge, which certainly added drama to the chapter. Here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) In several of his incarnations, the Doctor has felt a strong impulsion to take the lead over his companions, and dislikes it when a companion attempts to lead him instead.

(2) Following the episode "The Vampires of Venice", Rory was left with an inferiority complex over whether or not Amy had a greater romantic interest in the Doctor compared to him, leading to a greater effort on the nurse's part to impress the woman. This is resolved after they marry in the episode "The Big Bang", especially when Rory's Auton duplicate spent nearly 2000 years guarding Amy in the Pandorica. Despite being less that what she holds for Rory, Amy's faith and devotion in the Doctor still tends to unnerve the nurse at times and make his perceived inferiority to the Doctor spring up.

(3) Known by many fans for her piety to the Doctor, Amy has on occasion, stood up fiercely for him, especially when he is not around to do so himself.

(4) In order to use their two hearts, Time Lords had an advanced respiratory system. Instead of large lungs, they had a series of pulmonary tubes parallel to the lymphatic system. This made them positively buoyant, allowing them to swim with ease. They could survive longer without much oxygen, past the point where a human would be unconscious. Like most aspects of Time Lord physiology, the respiratory system was largely under conscious control. Time Lords could, at will, enter a trance state which reduced the need for oxygen. Time Lords also had a respiratory bypass system, which allowed them to survive strangulation, avoid breathing poison gas, and stave off drowning.

(5) Time Lords possessed reflexes and precision timing that were to a degree, superhuman. In the serial "The Time Monster", the Doctor's third incarnation remarked that a Time Lord's reflexes are ten times better than those of a human, allowing one to perform feats of surprising speed and agility. This is also a contributing factor to the Doctor being quite physically able in his later incarnations.

(6) Amy's parents fell into a crack in time in her bedroom wall when she was seven, erasing themselves from time. In the episode "The Eleventh Hour", this caused the girl to remark to the Doctor that she had no parents and was raised by her Aunt Sharon instead. When the Doctor rebooted the Universe in the episode "The Big Bang", Amy's parents were restored and returned to their proper place in time and space. Consequently, this resulted in two timelines, the "original" one where Amy was raised by her Aunt Sharon, and a "new" one where she was raised by her parents. Amy would go on to remember both timelines vividly in her memory.

(7) A variation of this line is spoken by the Doctor's ninth incarnation in the episode "The Parting of the Ways" after his companion Rose Tyler looked into the heart of the TARDIS, the "soul" of the time machine, and absorbed mass amounts of energy, turning her into a god-like entity. The energy was sourced from the Time Vortex, a network constructed by the Time Lords to link every point in time and space, and served as the "place" where all time travellers passed. Utilized by Rose to destroy a group of Daleks which were threathening her and the Doctor, the energy would have quickly burnt her up soon afterwards. Knowing this, the Doctor kissed Rose after uttering the line, absorbing the energy into himself. The energy destroyed all of the Doctor's cells, killing him and causing him to regenerate into his tenth incarnation.

OCs will still be taken up to the point where the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Adam Colt belongs to WolfSummoner93.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi Executioner TogainuNoChi.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to MeguMegu3.0.**

**Muyoko Ginkotone, Alexandra Diamond, and Nigel White belong to Chicken-Wings93.**

**Ruka Chance belongs to Kurono-Angel.**


	33. Qualifying Truth and Ideals!

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"I have a very extreme state of mind. Things are very black or very white." _– Martin Freeman

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 33: Qualifying Truth and Ideals!**

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Corridors, January 20, 2011, 11:36 p.m.)_

"Not sleeping yet, Doctor?" The words immediately jostled the Time Lord out of his contemplative trance as he stopped dead in the corridor, coming face-to-face with the visage of Amy Pond, fully dressed in her usual outfit.

Briefly taken aback, the Doctor was quick to regain his composure. "Pond… You should be in bed."

"You promised. You promised to take me through Castelia City, Doctor."

Irritation creasing his visage, the Doctor pinched his nose as he attempted to reason with his companion. While he did enjoy the occasional night-time adventure himself, he was neither in the mood nor had the energy to indulge in one tonight, much less taking on the task of having to entertain Amy while he was at it. "Can it wait for a few more hours? Missing your bedtime isn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world."

"I'm not a kid, Doctor! And you, you're going to take me out to see the sights right now, buster! I won't take 'no' for an answer! Rory!"

The nurse soon emerged from the nearby room, clad in his pajamas. He yawned slightly before straightening his frame. "What is it?"

Defeated, the Doctor sighed. "And now you've woken him up. Fine, a little walk and then we're coming back here. Understand?" Amy quickly nodded with a smug, victorious smile as she walked away to the lobby to wait. "Sorry about that, mate."

Rory could only shrug in response to his wife's behavior. "You get used to it with her around."

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, don't I know that… Too many sleepless nights on the TARDIS to count..."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Central Plaza, January 21, 2011, 12:08 a.m.)_

A massive metropolis built into the southern tip of Unova's central peninsula, Castelia City served as Unova's business hub, contrasting the city of Nimbasa to the north, whose specialty was entertainment. Described as a city which "never sleeps", Castelia City is also famed as the settlement built up by the White Prince with his very own hands, and the typical third stop for many a Trainer who planned on collecting gym badges.

The Doctor looked up from his Town Map as he came to a stop at a cluster of trees which bordered a large circular area of open land, divided by the paths that flowed through it, trees rooted in the space between. "This should be a good site for a nighttime stroll. This is Central Plaza, also known as the 'Castelia Central Area', the place where all four of Castelia's main streets intersect. Keep going north and you'd be on your way out of here and to Nimbasa City. If memory serves, this park is a lot like New York City's Central Park."

Amy took in the scenery as she walked down the pavement past the tall foliage, admiring the landscape against the backdrop of the dark sky. "It's quite beautiful and well-kept here, especially at night. The groundskeepers did a good job."

"Technically, it's morning now."

"Who cares?"

"Very peaceful. I could fall asleep again right now under a tree." yawned Rory.

The Doctor chuckled. "Keep the Mareep from invading your dreams for now, Rory. Let's keep going." A trek down the path eventually led to the center of the park, where a large flowing fountain with two basins, one atop the other, stood. Standing on the top basin was a statue of a robed male humanoid winged figure. Closer examination showed the statue to be angelic in form on the left side, and demonic on the right. The statue's face was that of a handsome youth on the left half, with a full head of curly hair and smooth gentle facial features, the eye and mouth on that side in an expression serene calmness. The right half of the state's face contrasted the left, the features reptilian and scaly in appearance, with a goat-like horn protruding from the top of the head close to the division of both halves, the eye nearly closed in a squint, and fangs sticking out from the lips in a hostile snarl. While the statue's left side had finely sculpted and flawless flesh, his right side displayed rotting sinew, exposing almost all of the muscle and bone. The figure's refined left hand was raised slightly in a meditative gesture, while his skeletal right hand was at his side, clutching at his robes. His wings were folded at his back, the left bird-like and covered in fine feathers, while the scaly right wing resembled that of a bat's. "This fountain is said to bring people and Pokemon together, and represents the harmony between them."

Amy wrinkled her face, clearly disturbed at the statue's disconcerting appearance. "An angel and a demon merged together in one figure."

"Symbolic of how the princes of Unova were twins, and therefore, had the same beginning, though one turned out to be good, the other evil. Their dragons, if you recall, were also originally one Pokemon and mirrored the personalities of their respective masters. Now look at the statues on either side of the fountain."

Situated at either end of the plaza, the fountain was flanked by two lavishly sculpted 52" tall statues mounted on pedestals. Both statues each depicted a handsome man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties dressed in regal robes with a full head of combed back hair, each seated upon the back of a bipedal draconian mount.

Bearing a vast white sheen, the face of the man in the left statue bore an expression of calm serenity, his right arm extended towards the sky, the hand gripping the handle of an elegant claymore. Connecting his arm with his weapon, an olive branch with thirteen leaves and thirteen olives was wrapped around his wrist and the sword's handle, the leaves draped over his fingers. His left arm was outstretched forward, palm facing the sky, with a hole in the middle from which a dazzling red-orange flame emerged, flickering in the night to illuminate the statue and its immediate surroundings. The man sat upon the back of a majestic white dragon, its body clad in feathers. The front of its head bore a canine-like snout, while the back was adorned with two streamer-like feathers to form a long, voluminous wispy mane, a spike jutting out from the top to form a crest. Under the mane, spiked features fringed the creature's face, leading down into a long and slender neck which ended in a collar of feathers, held in place against the neck by two neck bands. The creature possessed a pair of large forelimbs, which while beginning with slender arm-like appendages, quickly flared out into a pair of expansive wings. Four small claws protruded from the farthest end of each wing's front, forming small hands, the back of each wing playing host to the long feathers which contributed to flight. A feathered feature graced the creature's chest, with long feathers jutting from the tops of its robust thighs. Its hindlimbs ended in a pair of avian-esque feet styled like high heeled shoes, with three talons in the front and one behind. The end of its body was marked by a tail that consisted of a long, flowing center plume, flanked by secondary feathered extensions, all wrapped by two large bands. The creature stood tall, its head reared forward, mouth fixed open in a roar, exposing two small fangs on each jaw.

Arranged in a triangular formation around the massive statue were three smaller white statues, each standing atop their own pedestals. All four statues were placed upon a wide circular platform with double-headed arrows carved into its circumference. Standing directly in front of the larger statue was one of Cobalion, head raised in attention to stare sharply at the immobile group of statues on the other side of the fountain. Mounted on the platform at the rear left corner of the large statue was the one belonging to Terrakion, its teeth bared and its left front leg bent into a position where it scrapped against its pedestal, as if poised to charge. Directly across from it stood Virizion's statue, its front legs reared slightly off the ground as it leered its head forward. While its center remained stationary, the outer rim of the platform moved in a clockwise direction, causing the smaller statues to move around the large one like satellites orbiting a planet.

Sculpted to possess a deep black coat, the visage belonging to the man in the right statue held an intimidating look of contempt. Extended outwards from his body, his left arm held a grand claymore, frozen in mid-sweep. Strapped to his back was a quiver containing thirteen arrows, with a longbow clipped to it. His right hand, stretched forward with the palm facing the sky, held a large orb of glass with a smaller orb inside on a stand. Several arcs of blue electricity danced simultaneously from the smaller orb to the walls of the larger orb, providing an illuminating effect similar to the one offered by the flame of the left statue. The man was seated upon the back of a brutal black dragon, scales adorning its frame. The creature possessed a short snout that was topped with a small horn, while extending from the back of its head was a single short plume. Its short and thick neck was marked with a stud-like spike at the end on its back, while features resembling armor plates were mounted upon on its shoulders. Extending from the shoulders were a pair of small wings composed of three ribs each, akin to those of a paper fan, seemingly incapable of providing flight. Webbed flesh at the rear of each wing bridged the gaps between the ribs. A small spike jutted out from the farthest end of each wing's front. Located below the wings at the shoulders, the creature's arms were robust and muscular, each ending in webbed formations similar in shape to baseball mitts, hosting hands composed of three claws each on their undersides. Thin striations marked the length of the creature's waist and thighs, its sturdy, thick legs ending in large dinosaur-like three-clawed feet, while at each heel, a spike protruded. The creature's body ended in a massive tail shaped like a conch shell, with a spiked band encompassing its circumference near the end. Standing up straight, the creature's head leaned forward slightly, its open mouth sculpted into a roar, revealing several fangs growing from each jaw.

Unlike the sophisticated statue arrangement found in its white twin, the black statue simply had its three smaller black statues arranged in a straight row in front of it, all four statues set on a simple unadorned wide circular platform. A statue of Landorus was located in the center of this row, arms crossed upon his chest as he stared down his counterpart in the musketeer trio. To his left was Tornadus' statue, whose arms were raised in a combative stance, hands tightly clenched into fists, with the right arm extended forward but bent at the elbow so the forearm crossed the body while the left remained close to the chest. The statue of Thundurus was placed to the right of his leader, an expression of wild fury distorting his facial features, as his left arm was outstretched forward to point at the white statues across the fountain, his right arm raised straight to the sky while his tail contorted sharply to his right, in contrast to the relaxed postures of the tails belonging to his brethren.

The Doctor inhaled slightly as he gazed upwards at the statues. "Two mighty dragon-type Legendary Pokemon that symbolize man's bond with Pokemon, bearing their respective masters upon their backs."

Rory stared up at the black statue, immediately recognizing the sculpted man's face, one he had seen before. "That's the Black Prince… So you mean that dragon he's riding on is…"

The Doctor nodded as he finished Rory's sentence. "…Zekrom."

Amy nodded as she strode up to a sign mounted in front of the fountain. "That's what it says here… But blimey, that's Zekrom? That's what it looks like? How beastly it looks…" The woman continued to peer at the sign. "And the other must be the White Prince and his dragon, Reshi-…" She soon creased her brow in frustration at the sight of a small white splat obscuring the remainder of the word. "Blimey, we never get to know its full name!"

The Doctor chuckled. "Unless you want to take the effort to scrape Pidove droppings from that sign…"

Amy huffed. "Forget, it, buster!"

"Thought so. What else does the sign say?"

"Sculpted by Harold Hardwick and sponsored by Allen and Kayla Pierce in memory of the Princes of Unova." muttered Amy.

Rory bit his lip. "So _these_ are the statues that Victor and Rosemary talked about at the Sunset Daycare Center. The first statues of the princes to be publicly erected in Unova…" The Doctor squinted briefly at the white statue before waving his sonic screwdriver in front of it. The nurse stared awestruck at the statue, particularly the flame emitting from the White Prince's hand. "An eternal flame. It's meant to burn forever…"

The Doctor paused with a scratch of his head. "Or at least for as long as the gas source doesn't run out, which could take centuries, or even millennia."

"Why's that?"

"According to my readings, there is a natural gas vent directly underneath the statue. Pipes constructed within the statue's framework allow the gas to rise to the level of its extended hand, and a simple flint mechanism there ignites the flame. The gas output is enough that strong winds and heavy rain won't extinguish the fire."

Amy gestured at the glass orb held by the Black Prince. "So what's that thing the Black Prince is holding?"

"A plasma globe. A really giant one."

"You mean like that toy you keep on the dashboard of the TARDIS sometimes?"

The Doctor huffed. "Oi! That isn't a toy! It's an energitron bazzitron smigomorphosyzer!"

"And what does it do?"

The Doctor clicked his fingers. "Rearranges all the rooms in the TARDIS. Completely changes all the floorplans and shuffles all the corridors just as easily as teenagers on Earth shuffle music on their iPods."

Amy scoffed under her breath. "Oh, really now? And don't start speaking in metaphor, you remind me of that guy from Team Plasma…"

"Oh yes, your Munna… Don't want to be reminded of that myself. And believe me, Pond, changing the TARDIS' layout is that easy. Anyway, a plasma globe is made up of a large glass orb filled with an inert gas, usually a noble gas. Inside the main orb is a smaller orb, that's the electrode. To work, the electricity entering the globe, in the form of high-frequency alternating current at approximately 35 kHz, 2–5 kV, is amplified by a transformer below the electrode, which acts as a terminal for the current and creates an electromagnetic field. The high voltage reacts with the gas and excites their ions, creating a charged plasma. The energy created is in the form of a photon, also known as light, and reacts with the atomic structure of the plasma, creating wavelengths that translate into the colorful arcs of electricity. The glass orb may have a conductive coating to act as the other terminal for this ionizing current, hence the arcs of electricity striking the globe's surface. If you come near to or touch the orb, you act as a large ground and some current flows to you, altering the pattern of ionization and thus the light patterns, which is why the current focuses on you when that happens."

"So what sort of gas is producing the blue color of the electricity?"

The Doctor cupped his chin as he waved the sonic screwdriver in front of the black statue. "The color of the electricity varies based on the wavelengths produced, which is dependent on light energy interacting with the atomic structure of the gas used. In the case of the Black Prince's statue, the sonic says that the gas is…"

Rory cut his companion off with a start. "…argon with small amounts of mercury."

The Doctor pouted. "I was going to say that!"

"Well, maybe you might get a chance if you didn't busy yourself with all these long explanations, Doctor. By the way, what's powering the plasma globe?"

"If I have to guess, electrical wires are connected to it and strapped along the statue's height, cleverly disguised so they don't stand out. Past the statues' pedestal, the wires are buried underground, leading to a municipal power source. Now what else do you notice?"

"The musketeer trio and the kami trio... Their statues are surrounding those of the princes riding the dragons. Each group with the prince they sided with, just like Daniel mentioned at the Nacrene Museum."

Amy frowned at the statues. "Why in God's name are the statues arranged so oddly? The musketeer trio are arranged in a triangle around the White Prince, and the kami trio is all lined up in a row in front of the Black Prince..."

The Doctor beamed as he gazed as the moving platform shifting the musketeer trio's statues. "During their reign, each prince created a new style of battle, and the way those statues are arranged reflects that. The White Prince came up with the _rotation battle_, where each Trainer sends out three Pokemon at a time, each team of three standing on platforms facing each other, but only the Pokemon standing at the forefront of the each platform can battle, with the other two on each team sitting on the sidelines at the back. However, Trainers can rotate their platforms freely at their own discretion, either clockwise or counterclockwise, controlling who they want to battle at the current moment."

Rory scratched his head in confusion. "Isn't that just like switching Pokemon in a single battle?"

"Ah, but that's the beauty of the rotation battle. Switching in one Pokemon for another would leave the Pokemon that was just switched in at a Speed disadvantage compared to its opponent that's already out on the battlefield, even if the newly switched Pokemon is naturally faster. This is because the Pokemon who is already out can better react to the situation at hand and launch an attack faster and more efficiently. On the other hand, _rotating_ the plaform to change the current battling Pokemon has no such limitation, since all Pokemon involved are _already out _and can clearly see what's going on in the battle, so the Pokemon that's naturally faster would get to attack first, barring any moves or abilities that dictate otherwise. In this style of battle, moves will only affect the current battling Pokemon as in a single battle, and do not affect the two Pokemon on the sidelines. However, a Pokemon can be rotated in quickly to intercept hits originally targeting the teammate they just replaced and surprise the opposing Pokemon into having to battle someone else, which is something you can't pull off with the substitution system of a standard single battle. Makes things more dynamic too."

"So it's a more flexible single battle then..."

The Doctor beamed. "Exactly. Now you're getting it, Rory."

Amy stared at the rotating platform of the white statues. "Alright, smart guy, that's ingenious and all... So how is _this_ platform moving?"

"I'm assuming that there is a complex mechanism underneath the platform to simulate this." replied the Time Lord.

The Scottish woman huffed as she urned her attention to the black statues. "And what is the _oh-so-brilliant_ battle style that the Black Prince invented? There's no platform movement, and it looks like a double battle with three Pokemon. _Some creativity he had_..."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Your sarcasm is noted, Pond. As you have aptly stated, the Black Prince created the _triple battle_, where each side uses three Pokemon to battle. Unlike a rotation battle, all three Pokemon on each team battle simultaneously. In that sense, it's like a double battle. However, there is a big factor that distinguishes it from one. As you can see from the statues, each team of three Pokemon is arranged in a straight row, one in the center, and one each on either side to the left and right. The way the team is arranged plays a vital role in a triple battle, as for the most part, Pokemon on the left-side of the battlefield cannot attack any one on the right-side, including allies, and vice versa. This also means that the Pokemon in the center is able to target any Pokemon on the battlefield, but at a cost of being vulnerable to every other Pokemon's moves. Moves are affected, of course, as moves that can hit both opponents or all Pokemon in double battles would only affect adjacent Pokemon in a triple battle. However, there are moves that can hit all three opponents, and some that can strike any Pokemon, friend or foe, even non-adjacent ones."

Rory appeared to be impressed as he absorbed this new piece of information. "Just like in a double battle, there are restrictions on what moves can hit what Pokemon, only the restrictions are greater here. But what if you have a Pokemon on the right side with a good advantage over the left side opponent, but your Pokemon has no way of hitting said non-adjacent opponent?"

The Doctor nodded with approval. "I'm glad you asked, Rory. There is also another important factor in a triple battle, and that is the ability to _shift_, that is, the Pokemon on the left or right sides can exchange places with their teammate in the center. While it can help your strategy, in light of the fact that most moves cannot target non-adjacent Pokemon, it can also be risky, as the Pokemon that are in the process of shifting will not be able to execute any moves for a short while, leaving themselves vulnerable to any opponent that can target them. If the center Pokemon is knocked out, the remaining two non-adjacent teammates will automatically be shifted to the center of the battlefield."

"Even after you send out your Pokemon, there's still some element of control over team placement. It looks like these two styles of battle are worth trying out."

"I assure you that they are. Especially, especially, emphasis on _especially_, the rotation battle. Now that was an impressive invention, if I do say so myself."

Amy snickered in amusement as she refuse to let this opportunity to tease her companion go by without her taking full advantage of it. "Too flattered by the White Prince and his achievements, Doctor? I thought the only person that really flattered you was _yourself_. Might some long-dead royal be competing with the _great Doctor_ for his own attention then?"

The Doctor huffed in annoyance. "_Shut up_, Pond."

"Hey, just stating _the truth_..."

The Time Lord bit his lip as he began to mumble to himself. "The day I hear _m-_… I mean, the _White Prince's_ belief be used on me like this..."

"Truth and ideals, and choosing which to pursue... An argument between the princes that ultimately tore Unova apart. Each one trying to impose their respective beliefs onto the region, neither leaving any room for compromise between the two beliefs at all."

The Doctor sighed as he found an old mental image surfacing in his head.

_Seated behind the solitary desk in a study, a man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties gazed forward at a noble on the royal council standing before him. Off to the side of the desk stood an Emboar, arms crossed in silent observation. The blonde haired man's expresion remained composed as he listened to the noble talk. "You are just content to let Unova stagnate the way it is, are you not? No goals, no plans, no interest in development! Lately, all I have seen you do is sit aimlessly on your high throne and stare coldly out at the region. All you want to do is maintain what is currently true, the status quo." The blonde haired man's right eye twitched slightly as the words entered his aural range. "And your brother! That psychopath just paces the castle with no sense of reality, consumed by his goals and locked up in his own little world by himself with no concern for what goes on around him, and all that matters to him now are his own thoughts and opinions, his warped and twisted ideals. The last thing Unova needs are a pair of rulers wrapped up in their own beliefs to form a coherent picture of how to advance the kingdom!"_

_The blonde haired man closed his eyes, visibly straining to keep his facial expression calm. "Do you have something to say or not, hmmm?"_

_"You use your authority to jerk Unova in one direction, while your delusional idealist of a brother is trying to do the same in the other! You are just as bad as your brother!"_

_The blonde haired man stood up from his chair. "Eh? Hold your tongue! He and I are nothing alike!"_

_The noble sneered, contempt for the blonde haired man evident."You do not wish to hear me? Why? Are you too afraid to face the truth? It is right here, all laid out for you to see, sir. Seems like you cannot handle it. And I wonder why they call you the 'Hero of Truth'..." No sooner did he utter those words did the noble find himself swept off his feet, raised a few meters off the floor and pinned to the far wall of the chamber. The Emboar had made his move, glaring at the noble as he held the man in place. Between the three claws of his raised arm, the Mega Fire Pig Pokemon felt the noble's neck pulse as the man began struggling to draw in breath. __"Y-You a-are proving-g m-my p-p-point-t..."_

_The blonde haired man gritted his teeth. "EMBOAR!" At the sound of his Trainer's voice, Emboar released his arm, allowing the noble to slide down the wall and hit the floor. __"Consider yourself dismissed from the royal council. Now get out of my sight! This mercy I am granting you is one way I differ from my brother. He would only be too glad to disembowel you and use your own viscera to strangle you."_

As the image left his mind, the Time Lord bowed his head slightly to face the ground, in a move that from the perspective of his companions, elicited an intense feeling of shame. "Both princes were willing to _go to extremes_ in order to get what they want. It is a quality they both share. And when extremes meet, conflict is almost certain to come. Their beliefs were just that _important_ to them..."

"What is it about truth that the White Prince found so alluring? And how about the Black Prince's ideals? What did he see in them?" asked Rory.

The Doctor perked up at the opportunity to explain such a concept to his companions. "Okay, how about a quick crash course in the traits of truth and ideals? Hmmm... Where to start, where to start..."

"How about at the beginning?"

The Time Lord chuckled. "Good one, mate. Now then, let's talk about the law. Likened to the truth, the law is a preconstructed set of rules which you, by right, are required to follow. To ensure that a country does not descend into anarchy, rules are in place for everyone, and no one is exempted from following those rules. There are possibly different sets of rules, but everyone follows some. There are also laws that apply to humanity itself, encompassing all from the peasant to the king in their scope."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you all about busting down laws everywhere you go, Doctor? Look at you, waltzing around the universe without a care in the world..."

The Doctor shook his head. "Not so, Pond. I did hold people responsible according to the laws of the Shadow Proclamation **(1)**, including if you remember, the Atraxi **(2)**. Although I'm above most laws, I'm not above them all. Heck, the Shadow Proclamation once put _me_ on trial **(3)**."

"Really? For what?"

The Doctor visibly stiffened. "Meddling with a fixed point in time **(4)**."

"Blimey! You did that? What happened?"

The Doctor quickly attempted to change the subject. "I'd...rather not say. And we also have values, which you can compare to ideals. Values are principles you hold in your heart, which you deem to be correct and desirable in life, governing your personal conduct. Such values differ from person to person, and by that nature, can exclude anyone that does not agree with them. I'm sure one value you have, Rory, is your and Amy's happiness. You would do anything to protect her, and hold her life above all else to be important. Am I right?"

Rory turned his face away from the Doctor, attempting to hide the tint of crimson that appeared across his cheeks, to his wife's amusement. "I-I g-g-guess s-so..."

The Doctor shook his head slightly in amusement. "Oh come on, Rory, no need to hide it. I think Amy knows you better than anyone else. Now what had to happen before you two really got together, hmmm? Oh, Rory gets shot and erased from time, space gets destroyed because the TARDIS exploded, by who, I have yet to determine, I had to reboot the universe, and then Rory's Auton duplicate accidently shoots Amy and then in a sign of atonement, guards her in the Pandorica for almost 2000 years. Oh yes, that's devotion, all right. Rory was pursuing his right to be happy, and frankly, everyone has an equal right to be happy and to do what it takes to pursue that happiness. Doing so is a pertinent value for many and an ideal. But is that actually _fair_? The truth is, the law doesn't work that way."

Amy rolled her eyes. "The law works in very strange ways."

"That it does, but when you are charged with a felony, you tend to find yourself in the presence of a judge and jury. It's their job to seek out the truth, raw unbiased truth, to discern if you are innocent or guilty. Regardless of the result, they are also to divine if your circumstances are righteous, or morally justified, in order to deal out the appropriate sentence. You could commit a crime with the best of intentions, or those intentions could have been misinterpreted and implicated you in a crime you didn't commit. The White Prince was a firm adherent of this principle of righteousness, and his dragon embodied it. The musketeer trio hold the view that in pursuing and persecuting humans that harm Pokemon and their habitats, what they are doing is righteous and justified by a moral code they live by, which is to protect their fellow Pokemon." The Doctor pointed at the white dragon statue. "Cobalion is their leader, but researchers speculate that the trio's _master_ is the dragon their statues are surrounding over there."

"But they _hate_ that dragon and the White Prince!"

The Doctor sighed deeply. "True, but the White Prince initially used the original dragon and Victini to garner their support. It may not be a stretch to say that the original dragon commanded the musketeer trio in the White Prince's absence. It was the most powerful Pokemon in Unova after all, and was a representation of the two princes."

"Okay, so what about ideals in relation to this then?"

"While the role of a judge is to be unbased, can it be said that every judge has been _completely unbiased_ in their judgment? How do you know if the jury did not see things from their own personal view of reality based on the evidence? How do you know the judge did not insert his own personal interpretations of how the crime happened in order to decide what sentence to met out to you? A judge's goal is to pass judgment after determining if you have been righteous or not, but it isn't fair for a judge to be an idealist in the court, though the sentencing process is the culmulation of an ideal. The Black Prince personally enjoyed passing out judgment to people, and Professor Juniper did say in Nuvema Town that Zekrom was a Pokemon of judgment. Tornadus and Thundurus deal out their own form of judgment by destroying the crops of farmers, while their leader, Landorus, judges by regrowing the crops of those who have been good at heart and ignoring selfish or greedy farmers. In the same vein, Zekrom might be the kami trio's master."

Rory's eyes widened. "The kami trio might be subservient to Zekrom, but before that, they must be led by the original dragon in the Black Prince's stead. S-S-So t-t-that means-s-s..."

The Doctor nodded. "...the original dragon could have had _six_ Legendary Pokemon under its command. Quite a lot of power, eh?"

"The only Pokemon I know of for certain who is in this position is Arceus, who is said to have hatched from an egg in the middle of nothingness and created this world. After it shaped the planet, it then created the creation trio, consisting of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina."

"You mentioned them before. Dialga controls time in this world, and Palkia controls space, right? But what is..."

"...Giratina? The controller of antimatter in this world."

Rory was astounded. "So antimatter exists..."

The Doctor scoffed. "Of course it exists! It balances out all the matter that's around us, for God's sake!"

"Then how come we haven't all blown up from coming in contact with antimatter yet?"

"Because Giratina is keeping that from happening. It resides in a realm of antimatter parallel to this planet called the _Distortion World,_ that balances out this world, the _real world_. Giratina keeps a steady eye on the amount of matter and antimatter out there, ensuring that both are around in equal shares, thus attaining balance, and mutually assured destruction from any imbalance is averted. Anyway, I think we're getting off-topic here. While going off-topic is great at times, and can lead to many, many, many new and interesting subjects of discussion, even steering a conversation in a whole new direction, I think this is one topic we can talk about later. I don't know about you, Amy, but Rory and I would really like to get back to our warm beds in the Pokemon Center soon..."

Amy raised a hand to get the Doctor's attention. "You said Arceus commanded six Pokemon, so who are the other three?"

"After it created the creation trio, Arceus poured the essence of spirit into a single egg. That egg hatched into the _lake trio_, so named because they inhabit each of the Sinnoh region's three lakes. Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf are their names, and they are believed to give knowledge, emotions, and willpower respectively to all living things in this world. From the creation trio, matter came forth, and from the lake trio, spirit."

The woman gazed contemplatively at the sky. "Matter and spirit... Even this whole world... All that, made by Pokemon... Just when I thought they couldn't get more incredible, they keep on surprising me..."

The Doctor waved his arms around wildly. "Yes, but okay, waaaay off-topic now! Where was I? Ah yes, righteousness and judgment. It takes some real courage to seek out and accept what is righteous, because you might not like what you find, and it takes a lot of power to deliver judgment upon someone, because it can be an act that decides a man's fate."

The Time Lord continued. "Now, I did mention that truth was like the law, which does not govern by favoritism and subjects everyone to its gaze. Quite _selfless_, don't you think? With that, I have something to show you." He held up an American two-headed silver dollar, where one side, pristine and unmarred, glimmered under the moonlight, while the other, blackened and streaked with long, deep scratches across its surface, seem to suck up all ambient light around it. "Do you two know what this is?"

Amy gasped. "Two-Face's coin."

The Doctor tossed the coin in the air before catching it again. "Yes. Sad to say, but truth is, the world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is _chance_. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. _Fair_. I could toss this coin and simply let it determine how my day will turn out. My luck being decided by chance. In its notion of treating all equally, truth functions in much the same way. We could be lucky one day and spend it taking in the sights of an exotic planet, and we could be unlucky the next, and run into a horde of Daleks intent on exterminating us."

"Now I also said ideals were like values, which anyone can take and mold to suit their needs, making them self-governed and personal. I think it's rather _selfish_ though." The Doctor pulled out a Joker playing card. "Know what this is?"

"That's the Joker's calling card."

The Doctor fiddled with the playing card. "Very good. But trust me, there are people out there who would only be as good as the world allows them to be. When the chips are down, these 'civilized people', they'll _eat_ each other. That's what happens when people feel threathened, in their self-governed interest, they are driven to take care of the threat, and in doing so, behave like swarms of Rattata. Assault, rape, murder, pillaging, maiming... A lot of really ugly things have been done in the name of someone pursuing or _defending_ their ideals. Ideals can turn people into savage monsters."

"Now, you might be inclined to think that truth can be seen as 'good', don't you?" The Doctor cleared his throat. "I don't like to say this, but truth is frequently seen as our current circumstances, our status quo. There are times when the truth might not be fair to you at all. You might discover that the goal you are striving towards is an impossibility, or that you have been dealt a devastating blow you have no choice but to accept. Look at you, Rory. How did you feel when your Auton self shot Amy at the Pandorica site at Stonehenge? That bullet from your gun hand **(5)** piercing through her flesh, leaving her close to death. In a bid to make Amy remember the truth about you, you tried your utmost to resist the Auton programming from the Nestene Consciousness to imprison me in the Pandorica, as the other Autons around you quickly succumbed to it, but the undeniable truth was that _you still shot her_. And you, only you, had to live with the consequences." The Doctor heaved a deep sigh that racked his frame. "While truth is selfless, it is also _merciless_. It does not govern by favoritism, and because of that, it spares no one, not even its closest adherents."

Rory's face fell as the Doctor recounted his past ordeal. "That act still haunts me even now, but I..."

The Doctor smiled patiently at his companion, in the manner of an wise, old teacher. "Let me finish, Rory."

Amy nodded. "Yes, Rory. I want to hear the next part. I want to hear it again and again. I don't think I'll ever tire of this tale."

"Ideals might be seen as 'evil', right?" The Doctor turned his gaze to the sky. "Frankly, an ideal is any goal that you strive towards, and as such, its nature can vary widely from person to person. Ideals are what allow you to go above and beyond your current circumstances, and break your status quo. If you are persistant, they let you shape your circumstances in the form you wish, and carve out a new status quo for yourself. And we can once again look to Rory for an example. After I mentioned that the Pandorica could sustain Amy and prevent her from dying, your Auton form immediately volunteered to defend it, despite the fact that Amy would be relatively safe in there without anyone guarding her, since the Pandorica cannot be easily opened. Even though you had to stand guard for nearly 2000 years, becoming the 'Last Centurion' **(6)**, you did so without a single complaint, despite knowing that it would be monotonous, boring, unpredictable, with you having no way of knowing where the Pandorica might wind up in the interim. You did it all out of love and devotion to protect Amy, and that is a shining example of an ideal that touched my heart **(7)**." The Doctor beamed as he spoke his next sentence. "Ideals are selfish, yes, but also _merciful_. They are self-governed, but can often allow one the push to save a life based on principles beyond reason."

Before the Doctor could react, Amy spun around and slapped her husband across the cheek, causing him to instinctively clutch the affected spot to rub away the stinging sensation. "That, Rory Williams, _was for shooting me_." The woman strode over to Rory, knocking away his hand before kissing him full on the lips, to the amusement of the Doctor. Separating from Rory for air, Amy leaned in and whispered into his ear. "And that, Rory Williams, _was for shooting me_."

"Can I continue?" The couple soon pulled apart with blushes upon their visages at the Doctor's gentle interruption of their moment. "Each person has different beliefs about truth and ideals, whether one is good, the other bad, or both being good or bad. You have to decide for ourselves what your opinion is. Can you utilize truth and achieve things in line with reality as it is right now? Or would you use ideals to change reality? If you can change reality, it might come at the expense of others, what gives you the right to do so then? And if you can't, it might still come at others' expense, what keeps you from doing so then? Think about that."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "But if one is bad and the other good to some people, won't they try to use that idea more and shun the other?"

"I thought you might ask that. Well, consider this. If you shun the truth and only care about your ideals, then all that would matter to you is your own perspective of an ideal world, since reality is not in line with your view of the world. As such, you would lose track of your environment, even your five senses. Eventually, all that would exist for you are your goals, and all that you would care about is your perspective. Your goals and your perspective would compose all there is to reality for you. On the other hand, if you absorb yourself in the truth and choose to cast ideals away, you might find yourself without any aim, without any goals in life. Your sanity might be intact, but you will find yourself lost, just going through the motions. With no personal ambitions to push yourself forward, no inner drive to fire you up, you may turn cold and aimless, and if you are around people a lot, your apathy towards finding purpose in life might induce them to feel the same. Too much of one idea serves no beneficial purpose to anyone."

Amy looked at the Doctor. "A person without ideals being cold and aimless, huh? Reminds me of someone I know sometimes."

The Time Lord huffed. "Oi! I would have you know that I can be the liveliest person around, especially at parties. I like parties."

"True, but you can also be the coldest."

"_Shut up_, Pond."

Rory cupped his chin. "Truth and ideals. These two ideas are frequently engaged in a game of tug-of-war over our lives, inclining us to choose one or the other."

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "Indeed. If you choose truth, would that mean you are meant to stay down-to-earth and pragmatic, your earthly existence cold? Or if you choose ideals, would you have your head in the clouds, imagining away, lost up there in the statosphere? Not an easy choice to make. However, if you can master truth, you will gain the approval of several people around you, your grasp on reality strong enough to be practical with your circumstances and avoid experiencing failure. If you can master ideals, you'll be able to run into great success in life, and loosen your grasp on reality enough to find areas that you can change, eventually moulding the world around you."

"They can be quite different from each other..."

The Doctor smiled sadly with a shake of his head. "Yes, and it was those differences that caused the princes to battle each other. People are willing to do a lot for their beliefs. Both princes had very extreme states of mind. It was either all black or all white to them. No gray areas, no compromise between truth and ideals. But if a person can find that compromise and bridge truth and ideals, he will be capable of many great things... It's something that even I struggle with myself, and I've been struggling for a very, very long time..."

Amy cleared her throat, drawing the attention of her companions. "Uh, Doctor? Rory? Someone's coming this way."

The Doctor and Rory turned their heads and soon noticed a figure emerge from the trees, walking into the Central Plaza, as a voice entered their ears. "Oh, it's you lot again... What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

* * *

Author's notes: Whew. That chapter was a doozy to write. I apologize as usual for the delay, no thanks in part to my workload and the fact that the computer where the files for this chapter and the next were saved on broke down, leaving it uncertain as to whether or not I had to retype those chapters. Fortunately, I was able to recover my files from the hard drive of the old computer and transfer them to a new one, where I could continue to write. Incidentally, Series 7 of Doctor Who debuted three days ago, so this update would be good to commemorate the occasion. Personally, I thought a chapter on the nature of truth and ideals would be important those beliefs were after all, what caused Unova to collapse by the princes. This chapter does not feature any OCs, but the next one will. Here's this chapter's glossary.

(1) The Shadow Proclamation was a galactic government concerned with upholding Galactic Law, the system of law parallel to international law on Earth upheld by many interstellar governments, and enforced by several species. In his ninth, tenth and eleventh incarnations, the Doctor called miscreants to account for themselves according to its dictates.

(2) More precisely, in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", the Doctor called the Atraxi to task for trying to destroy the Earth in their attempt to arrest a prisoner hiding on the planet. According to Galactic Law, destruction of a Level 5 planet (of which Earth was one) was illegal unless said planet committed a crime against another planet/race.

(3) The Doctor 's tenth incarnation was apprehended and put on trial by the Shadow Proclamation in the expanded media story "The Fugitive" when he interfered with "a fixed point in time", specifically events surrounding a film studio in Los Angeles after he saved the life of someone who had been fated to die in the expanded media story "Silver Scream_"._ For reasons as yet unclear, an enemy of the Doctor's, Lucas Finch, served as the prosecutor. The Shadow Proclamation's leader, the Shadow Architect, found the Doctor guilty and sentenced him to lives imprisonment. After it was revealed that the trial was a set up, the Doctor was freed.

(4) Fixed points in time were moments in the space-time continuum at which events were set in stone and could never, _ever_ be changed, no matter what. They were events and/or individuals who had such long-standing impacts on the timeline that no one, not even Time Lords, dared interfere with their natural progression. The Doctor, free to interfere in alien invasions and save planets in most cases, could neither interfere nor interact with these fixed points, out of fear of damaging reality. Were a fixed point to be interfered with, time would often find a way to make the timeline continue with minimal changes. If one actually _broke _a fixed point in time, time would freeze and collapse and reality would "_die_".

(5) Autons had retractable guns hidden in their hands, and that was how the Auton Rory shot Amy in the episode "The Pandorica Opens".

(6) Due to his Roman soldier dress, the Auton Rory was known as the "Last Centurion" to those who saw him accompany the Pandorica throughout history. During the London Blitz of 1941, the Auton Rory was spotted moving the Pandorica out of harm's way during a bombing, but after that, the Last Centurion disappeared from history and was believed killed or destroyed. In reality, he continued to look after the Pandorica in other ways. By 1996, when the Doctor came to retrieve Amy, he was working as a security guard in the National Museum, where the Pandorica was on display.

(7) The determination that the Auton Rory showed in wanting to protect Amy in the Pandorica in the episode "The Big Bang" deeply touched the Doctor, and allowed the Time Lord to see that this living plastic creature had humanity. After the universe was rebooted and the Alliance ceased to exist along with the Auton Rory, the Doctor would go on to see both Rory and his Auton duplicate as one and the same, considering the human's retention of the Auton's memories. The Doctor even called Rory "The Boy Who Waited", due to the Auton's near 2000 year vigil at the Pandorica. This can be likened to the Doctor calling Amy "The Girl Who Waited" in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" for her having to go 14 years without being able to travel with the Time Lord.

And yes, I am still taking OCs, but I will stop doing so when the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.


	34. Preserving the Memory of a Time Lord

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one." _– Marcus Porcius Cato

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 34: Preserving the Memory of a Time Lord**

* * *

_(Castelia City, Central Plaza, January 21, 2011, 12:23 a.m.)_

The figure that strode into the Central Plaza was quickly illuminated by the flame produced from the hand of the White Prince's statue, allowing Amy to make a positive identification. "Al?"

Al groaned as she came to a stop in front of the group, thoroughly annoyed at their presence. Gleaning whatever experience she had so far on the Doctor, it appeared to her that he was a person whom seemed to show up at the most inappropriate moments for many. "Yes, that's me, alright. Give the girl a prize for such an _educated guess_. Now then, why _are_ you here?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "As I've told Pond, it's morning. Anyway, this is part of my typical routine **(1)**."

Realizing she would not get an iota of satisfaction from the Time Lord's answer, Al walked up to the statues. "Whatever… Just do me one_ little favor_... Don't get in my way, okay?"

Rory chuckled slightly. "That might be an issue even for the Doctor. You saw what he did at Pinwheel Forest when Muyoko was trying to catch that Sewaddle. He sticks his nose in everything."

Al turned her back on the nurse. "Fine, I don't care then. Not like I can do anything about it."

Soon enough, another figure made his presence felt in the Central Plaza. Standing at around 5'3" with an average build, spiky dark blue hair, and light blue eyes that constantly appeared to be gleaming, a boy thirteen years of age donned in a black long-sleeved hoodie walked up to Al. Under the hoodie, he wore a white short-sleeved over shirt with a black long-sleeved shirt underneath. He also wore a pair of blue pants held in place by a brown leather clip belt. On his feet were a pair of black running shoes with silver trim and light gray shoelaces. Al cleared her throat. "Maxwell Pierce?" The boy nodded slowly. "You're late… Let me tell you this, I don't like people wasting my time unnecessarily…"

"You're Alexandra Diamond?" asked the boy.

Al rolled her eyes. "Just call me 'Al', okay?"

The boy soon caught sight of the people standing next to Al. "And these are associates of yours?"

The Doctor waved causually at Maxwell. "Hello."

Al sighed. "Unfortunately…"

The boy shrugged. "Well anyway, call me 'Max'. You know, it's silly. Why I came out here at this time in the dead of night…"

"Morning. It's morning now." muttered the Doctor.

Max dismissed the Doctor's comment. "Whatever. Anyway, why I came here at this time. I should be in bed at home…"

Al rolled her eyes with a groan. "Because I have something you want, and you have something I want. Simple as that. Need I spell it out for you? Your brain is bound to be chock-full of the stuff your parents, Zachary and Mai Pierce, have taught you."

Amy's eyes widened. "Wait, Maxwell Pierce? We met your brother Nathen recently at the Nacrene Museum."

Max did a quick double-take. "Nathen? What did he say about me?"

"He said that we might run into you somewhere in Unova, since you're traveling."

Max stiffened visibly, a sign that was not lost on the Doctor. "I see. I'm just stopping here for a visit. My family has lived in Castelia City for generations. No need for me to stay at the Pokemon Center, since the family residence is here."

Amy shrugged. "He also said that you weren't interested in Unova's history and didn't care too much for it."

Al narrowed her eyes as her voice dropped to an outraged hiss. "What? You tricked me! You were trying to use your ties to your parents to get what you want, right? And here I thought that as a 'Pierce', you could have something interesting to say…"

Max raised his hands defensively. "Hey, hold on a minute! Unlike what my brother might infer, I _actually did _soak up some of the stuff my parents tried to educate me with. Didn't find any practical use for that flotsam until now. Like this, those statues represent the styles of battle created by the two princes, the rotation battle and the triple battle. According to legend, the White Prince's prowess at the rotation battle was _unrivalled_. The same goes for the Black Prince and the triple battle. While both were very capable battlers in their own right, neither of them managed to quite master his brother's created battle style."

The Doctor chuckled as he stared out into the distance where the land met the ocean. "Oh? I know I _desperately_ want to sleep, but this is worth testing... So what do you know about that island over there?" His companions followed his line of sight, noticing the Time Lord pointing at a small mountainous island on the edge of the horizon.

"That island? It's Liberty Garden, home to the Liberty Garden Tower, a lighthouse that has been disused for centuries. Or so everyone believed until recently, since any previous explorations inside have yielded nothing special, just an empty building all the way to the top. However, recently discovered documents suggests that the lighthouse may be the home of a Legendary Pokemon befriended by the White Prince, and that he commissioned Liberty Garden Tower as a retreat for it."

Rory perked up. "Victini, right? The newspaper we read in Striaton City said that the White Prince built a retreat for it. Daniel also said that at the Nacrene Museum."

"Yes, my parents told me that what Professor Juniper thinks. Victini lives in Liberty Garden Tower. With that in mind, the lighthouse may not even have been used as a lighthouse, but to disguise its true nature as Victini's retreat. Although, Professor Juniper isn't sure how the White Prince managed to erect it in such a short space of time, being in power for only twelve years. At the time, the construction of buildings like that must have taken _decades_, if not _centuries_. The White Prince managed it in _less than a year_. It is a powerful demonstration of his achievement that being able to construct the lighthouse in that amount of time is still considered a great technical feat up to the present day. Apart from a desire to keep Victini safe from anyone who may want to exploit its powers, the circumstances by which the White Prince built the tower are unknown." The Doctor chuckled slightly to himself as he allowed his brain to bring up a distant image from the past.

_A man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties entered a room, noting its colorful décor. Immediately obvious to him was the large amount of toys scattered on the floor, which was covered with a red carpet. Smiling to himself in amusement, he soon sat down on a chair in the middle of the chamber. "Ah Victini, I hope you are not bored by your new toys just yet. Took me a long while to find all these…"_

"_Tini…" As if on cue, Victini materialized in front of the man's face, landing on his lap. "Tini! Victini!" The blonde haired man laughed as he stroked Victini's ears, prompting coos of delight from the Victory Pokemon._

_The man soon perked up as a few knocks sounded on the door, prompting Victini to vanish from sight. "Enter."_

_The door swung open as a pale skinned knight with brown eyes escorted a woman into the chamber. A suit of silver armor cloaking his lanky form, he possessed a messy head of curly auburn locks that drooped over his forehead and ears. Strapped to the left side of his waist was a sheathed sword that served as his primary weapon. "The White Prince will see you now, ma'am." The blonde haired man perked his head as he caught sight of the woman._

_Appearing to be in her early twenties, she possessed a head of shoulder length blue hair and a slim and shapely figure dressed in long, flowing formal red robes. An unusual flower-like golden collar adorning her head and neck, her smiling visage, one that the man would remember for years to come, exuded warmth and gentleness as she laid eyes upon him. "Thete!"_

_The man returned the smile as he gestured to a nearby chair. "Ah, hello Millennia. Take a seat, will you?" Turning to the knight, he nodded. "You are dismissed, Mowain." The knight gave the White Prince a short bow as he turned around and closed the door without another word._

_Millennia sat herself down. "It has been four years since you were posted here, I believe. And now you are Unova's White Prince, I see. Not bad, Thete…"_

_The White Prince chuckled. "Please…"_

"_And how is…"_

_Before Millennia could finish her sentence, the door opened as a man identical in appearance to the White Prince, save for his head of combed back dark hair, stuck his head into the room. "Oh hello, Millennia." The knight who had brought Millennia into the room soon returned, tapping the dark haired man upon the shoulder, gaining his attention. "What?" The knight whispered a few words into the dark haired man's ear, causing the man to frown deeply. "I see..." Turning his attention back to the room's occupants, the dark haired man hastily shifted his features to make them appear as calm as he could. "Well, g__oodbye, Millennia." Without another word, he left, slamming the door loudly. There was no time for the White Prince or Millennia to react as they heard the dark haired man's voice bellow down the adjacent corridor. "WHAT? THEY TOOK IT? WELL, IF THEY WANT THE REVEAL GLASS SO BADLY, THEY CAN HAVE IT! THEY CAN TAKE IT WITH THEM TO THEIR GRAVES!"_

_Millennia jumped with a start. "What in the name of Gallifrey is his problem?"_

_The White Prince shrugged. "Eh? You know what his problem is…"_

_"What is this 'Reveal Glass' anyway?"_

_"Hmmm? Just so__me mirror." _

_The woman suddenly looked alarmed. "Is he actually going to kill a bunch of people over a mirror?"_

_The White Prince shrugged again. "He is joking..." He suddenly appeared to be very unsure of himself. "I hope..."_

_Millennia sighed. "Very convincing, Thete... Anyway, since I doubt I will get anything more on the subject from you, why did you send that hypercube to call me here for? Had to get Rallon to drive a TARDIS here you know, since he is one of the few of us with a Rassilon Imprimatur."_

"_I know that. Our rental TARDIS protects us Time Lords without a Rassilon Imprimatur from the strain of time travel, and can be operated by such a Time Lord. Handy, since I do not have mine yet."_

_Millennia cleared her throat. "But on the other hand, it is only programmed to take you between this general time and place, and Gallifrey. You cannot go to any other point in time and space using it."_

"_In theory, no, I cannot. But he has found a way past that, apparently, and wasted no time in exploiting it. If you want proof, look for a Genesect wandering the castle."_

"_He did? How? He is going to be in a lot of trouble if anyone else on Gallifrey finds out!"_

"_I know that! You are good at temporal engineering, figure it out!"_

_Millennia sighed. "Sometimes, I think you cover for him too much, Thete."_

_The White Prince shook his head. "Nevermind, I have been covering for him for as long as I can remember. Where is Rallon anyway, hmmm?"_

"_He has some other business to attend to, he told me to call him when I was done here and he would pick me up."_

"_Pity, I would have invited him in for some drinks."_

"_Anyway, I asked earlier. Why did you call me here?"_

_The White Prince surveyed the room. "Hmmm? Take a look around you, Millennia."_

"_All I see are a mess of toys. You were always quite disorganized, Thete."_

_The man chuckled. "Well, it is not me this time. This is Victini's playroom."_

"_And who is Victini?" _

_The White Prince snapped his fingers, prompting Victini to appear in front of the woman. "Tini!"_

_Millennia reached out for the Pokemon, catching it in her arms. "Awww… You are soooo cute!"_

"_Tini! Tini!"_

_The White Prince stood up from his chair. "Victini always seemed popular with women… I wonder why…"_

_Millennia tickled Victini's stomach, causing its shrill laughter to fill the room. "Do I need to spell it out for you, Thete? Why have you not told me that you have such an adorable Pokemon?"_

"_Eh? You never asked."_

_Millennia pouted slightly before stroking Victini's head between the ears. "Okay, smart guy. Where do I find a Victini?"_

_The White Prince smirked. "Nowhere but here. Victini is not a species of Pokemon you can simply find anywhere. It is Legendary, you know."_

"_Legendary? Victini is a Legendary? So…"_

"_You could look for centuries and not find one. This Victini you are now holding is probably the most you will ever see of the species. You should consider yourself lucky." Millennia sighed as she realized her wish had become a practical impossibility. "Oh do not worry, Victini trusts you now. Why else would it let you hold it like that?"_

"_You still have not answered my question, Thete. Why did you call me here?"_

_The White Prince began to pace the room. "I was getting to that. As a Legendary Pokemon, there are many evil people out there who will want to use Victini's power for their own ends." _

"_What is Victini's power?"_

"_Victini has the ability to radiate prodigious amounts of energy from its body, which it can transfer to others. Anyone who comes in contact with this energy has their power increased dramatically, and therefore, becomes extremely difficult to defeat. Hence, Victini is often referred to as the 'Victory Pokemon'." Victini puffed its chest out in pride._

_Millennia stared at the little creature in her lap with amazement. "What an ability…"_

"_Yes, which is where you come in. I need your help to construct a retreat for Victini, a place where it can go to feel safe, somewhere no one will think to look should they want to seek out Victini, so it should be well disguised. As you can tell from the toys, Victini loves to play, so make plenty or nooks and cranies for it to roam around. I have lost count of how many times Victini asked me for new toys and games."_

"_Two questions, why did you not ask Drax to do this? He is better at architecture and constructing things than I am. And what do I get out of this arrangement?"_

"_What do you get, hmmm? Namely, these." The White Prince held up two small decorated strips of paper, flashing them in Millennia's face. "I knew Drax does not care for these, Rallon does not know a thing about the subject, and frankly, I do not trust the other five for this task."_

_Millennia gasped as she caught sight of the papers in the man's hand. "Those are tickets to the concert that the Deliverers of Lemura are holding soon! I have been trying for months to get them, they are booked solid! How did you…"_

_The White Prince smirked as he stopped in front of Millennia. "I have my ways… Anyway, how are the others, hmmm? Anyone miss me?"_

_Millennia shrugged as she continued to pet Victini's head. "Rallon does. He misses those times he had with you, you know how he gets." The White Prince smiled fondly at Millennia's sentence. "Jelpax is jealous that the two of you were chosen to be posted here." _

The White Prince rolled his eyes. "_Why am I not surprised? That suck-up!"_

_Millennia rolled her eyes. "Ushas for one, is glad that you are not around to sabotage her biochemistry projects."_

"_Oh, that reminds me, one more thing." Reaching into his robes, the White Prince produced a corked flask containing a dubious looking light blue liquid. "Put this in the next concoction that Ushas cooks up, record the footage of what happens, and send it to me by hypercube."_

_Millennia recoiled in abject shock. "What? Ushas will kill me if I do that!" Victini chuckled in Millennia's lap, prompting the woman to look down at the Victory Pokemon. "You mixed this as well?" A nod from Victini was enough to elicit a groan from her._

_The man gave Millennia a dismissive hand gesture. "Eh? Then do not get caught. Do you want the tickets, Millennia? I happen to know for a fact that Rallon loves that band a lot and all other tickets are sold out. Not even your family's wealth will get them, you know."_

"_You are so mean…"_

_The White Prince cast a stern glance at the woman. "I am also your leader, Millennia."_

_Defeated, Millennia reached out and timidly took the flask from the White Prince's hand. "I am so dead…"_

"_Frankly, I think Ushas is too uptight. She needs to loosen up a bit."_

"_I think things like this flask are exactly the reason she is uptight, Thete."_

"_I will send you the tickets upon the completion of that retreat for Victini. Since our race is gifted with time travel, do not worry about exceeding any deadlines. Oh yes, and I await that hypercube."_

_Millennia bit her lip. "I guess I should be going. Rallon will be here to pick me up soon." Victini flew up from the woman's lap as she left her chair. "It was nice meeting you, Thete. And you too, Victini."_

_Victini beamed before vanishing into thin air. "Tini!"_

_The White Prince strode over to the door, holding it open for his guest. "Might I have the pleasure of walking you out, Millennia?" The woman nodded as she exited the room, the man closing the door behind them._

_Millennia peered over her shoulder to stare at the White Prince. "Is it just me, or do you have something to say, Thete?"_

"_Eh? Well, I can foresee that I will not reign over Unova forever, Millennia, and hence, I do not know if I will around to protect Victini all the time. I have no idea if I will be allowed to take Victini, or any of my Pokemon for that matter, except the dragon of course, with me back to Gallifrey when that time comes."_

"_The retreat is also to ensure Victini's continued protection when the time comes that you might have to leave…"_

"_Exactly."_

_Millennia continued down the corridor. "I will do what I can, for Victini's sake."_

_The White Prince chuckled. "Do not forget the hypercube. I am itching to see Ushas' reaction."_

"_Thete!"_

"_Take care, Millennia."_

"_Good luck handling you-know-who…"_

_The White Prince raised an eyebrow. "Is his name that taboo?" Millennia simply rolled her eyes as she walked away, the man left to stare at her retreating back. "I am the leader, and yet I still do not understand half of the things they do…"_

_The man opened the door again and it was at that moment Victini chose to reappear at his side. "Tini. Tini. Tini."_

"_Oh, you think you have mastered it, eh? That game is tough, I can tell you."_

_Victini beamed. "Victini! Tini! Tini!"_

_The White Prince smirked. "Is that so, eh? Well, I think you have a long way to go before you beat my score."_

_The Victory Pokemon pointed at the man's chest. "Tini. Tini."_

"_Oh, bring it on…"_

The Doctor beamed as the image faded from his mind. "Not bad. You know what you're talking about, at least with regards to the tower."

Max shrugged. "Just repeating what my parents said. It was only recently that archeologists were able to find a hidden room in the basement through a door which was cleverly disguised as part of the wall, and only opened when the right brick was tapped. Inside, they found a small room, which they think is an antechamber, with three large statues of humanoid figures standing in the center, as well as ten portraits on the wall, two of which are the princes. The theory that the tower was constructed for Victini was reinforced by the White Prince's portrait there featuring it on his shoulder, a copy of the oil painting at the Nacrene Museum. The Black Prince's portrait, being a copy from the museum as well, features Genesect in the background."

"Did they manage to get any further?"

"Not yet, though the logical conclusion is that the antehamber, if it is one, leads to at least another room that could offer valuable information about Victini. They just have to find a way to crack whatever puzzles are in the room. So far, they are stumped as to who the other eight people in the portraits are and who or what the statues depict. Being close to their goal, the archeologists are sure that they will figure it out soon."

The Doctor began to laugh in amusement. "I doubt it."

"Why do you say that?"

The Time Lord's laughter did not cease. "I just doubt it."

Al scoffed. "Oh? So you think you can solve it then."

The Doctor smirked. "I don't think, I _know_."

"You are implying that you are smarter than all those archeologists."

"I'm a time traveller. I _point and laugh_ at archeologists **(2)**."

Maxwell was stumped. "What?"

"Don't steal my line." muttered the Doctor.

Al threw her arms up in exasperation. "Ignore him."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, what she said."

Rory stared acoss the ocean at the island. "I think Liberty Garden would be a nice place to visit."

Max shook his head. "Well, right now, in light of the discoveries, access to Liberty Garden is restricted to archeologists and researchers, and even they have to get some kind of special clearance to step foot on the island. The island has been largely deserted until now because no one thought there was anything of interest. With that no longer true, all this news is bound to attract people who may want to catch Victini. All these precautions are for Victini's safety." The Doctor frowned deeply at the boy's comments.

Rory nodded. "To protect Victini, I suppose that is understandable..."

Al crossed her arms impatiently. "Okay, this is all very interesting, but I don't have all night..." Catching sight of the Doctor about to open his mouth, she quickly continued to speak. "..._or day_. Do you remember what I'm here for?"

Max stole a glance at the White Prince's statue. "No, I haven't forgotten. Just wish my parents didn't make such a big fuss over the whole thing. It was centuries ago, just a lot of ancient history. Maybe they did feel a debt of gratitude towards the White Prince, but this is ridiculous."

"Ridiculous? You won't even exist if it wasn't for the White Prince." muttered Rory.

"Oh? Did you learn _that story_ from my brother then?" asked Max.

"How did you guess?"

"Just a hunch. He shares my parent's attitude towards these things. Yeah, I know that story as well. The Black Prince kicked my ancestor Kayla Pierce in the stomach when she was pregnant, almost causing her to suffer a miscarriage. Her husband Allen found out about it and went to confront the Black Prince. If the White Prince didn't intervene, Allen might have been killed that day."

Amy shrruged. "No surprise there. Gee, what's my first reaction to finding out a crazed megalomaniac nearly killed my unborn son? _Oh, I know_, find him and challenge him to a duel... _Great way_ to get yourself killed."

"You think so too, huh? Well, that's an opinion we both share. Fortunately for my existence, the White Prince managed to talk him out of it." Crossing his arms in concentration, the Doctor thought back to a different time, as his grasp on reality was replaced with an emerging image.

_Pacing his way down a corridor in the castle, the knight glanced around briefly before deciding to proceed. Before he could take another step, a voice caused him to freeze in position. "And just where do you think you are off to, hmmm?"_

_The knight but his lip, as he tilted his head back to see the White Prince, dressed in regal robes and leaning against the wall__. "Oh, nowhere…"_

_The White Prince raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Nowhere? My brother's chambers are just this way."_

"_Um… Just going to have a nice cup of tea with the Black Prince then. That's all…"_

_"The only person he would ever have a proper cup of tea with is me." The White Prince turned his back to Allen, a sad smile upon his face. "You decide for yourself how long you want to keep lying to me, Allen."_

_Sensing the White Prince's disappointment in him, Allen cursed his rapidly crumbling resolve as the other man began to walk away. "S-Sir… Wait!"_

_The man stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around. "I'm waiting, boy."_

_Allen bit his lip. "The Black Prince attacked my wife today, sir."_

_The White Prince turned to face Allen. "I know…"_

_"Wait, you do?"_

_"Where do you think my head is, eh? In the clouds? Of course I do."_

_"And now she is lying in bed injured, and I have no idea if our child is still alive or not..." Allen's hands reflexively balled themselves into fists as several teardrops streaked down his cheeks. "__So I was going to fight him. He trampled on my family's honor and that is something I believe I have to reclaim."_

___"I see."_

___"Are you going to stand in my way, sir?"_

___"What do you think, boy? As you will do what you think is necessary to defend your wife, I will do what is necessary to defend my brother."_

___"But, sir..."_

___The White Prince let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes. "How about your wife?"_

_"I did __not tell her. I did not want her to worry about me or try to stop me. I would not be surprised if she caught wind of it and had someone come and intervene. I suppose she begged you to come here and talk me out of it."_

_The White Prince narrowed his eyes sternly at Allen. "She did not. Your wife has no idea you are here as we speak."_

_"What? Then why..."_

_"Mowain, on the other hand, thought that you might try such a stunt."_

_"Mowain? But the man is so lazy and laid-back and relaxed and undisciplined..."_

_The White Prince raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Give him a little more credit, will you? He is also quite obsevant." _

_A__llen moved to continue forward down the corridor. "Please do not stop me, sir. You love your brother dearly, but I love my wife so much. I will never abandon her! It is going to take the power of Arceus to wrench me away from her, and even then, I would brave anything, any force, any obstacle, that stands in my way to get back to her."_

_The White Prince's next words forced Allen to resume his immobile stance. "How do you feel towards the one that brought the two of you together, hmmm?"_

_"Eternally grateful, for because of him or her, I found the love of my life."_

_"Eh? Then you would halt right now."_

_"Huh?"_

_"The man who is responsible for introducing you to Kayla is the same man that you are now intent on fighting."_

_Allen was stunned. "What? But..."_

_"The night Kayla broke in here, who told you to go to that area of the castle to search?"_

_"You did."_

_The White Prince shrugged. "Perhaps, but my brother was the one who figued out who should search where..."_

_"Your brother? But sir, all this time, I always thought..."_

_"...it was me who caused you to meet Kayla? Under the circumstances, that would have been the assumption."_

_"But sir, did he really..."_

_"All the instructions, all the planning, the brilliant coordination of the soldiers in the castle to respond to the break-in that night was all from the brain of the Black Prince. He is probably the best strategist I have ever known." The White Prince caught Allen's disbelieving eye. "I am telling you the truth, something which, might I point out, you failed to do when I first asked you where you were going."_

_Allen pursed his lips. "So does he..."_

_The White Prince shook his head. "He does not. We kept the matter quiet, remember? Said the thief escaped the castle without managing to steal anything. The next day, Kayla shows up at the front door to apply for the vacant servant position. Why? Would you rather that he knows, hmmm? He would blow a gasket if he finds out that the thief who broke into the castle four years ago is now one of his servants."_

_"I would never want him to discover that. If he did, Kayla's life would certainly be in danger."_

_The White Prince nodded. "Indeed, which brings me back to Mowain tipping me off about you going to challenge the Black Prince. Why did he suspect it, and not Kayla, who as your wife, should know you better than Mowain does? Answer me that, boy."_

_"To be honest, sir, I am clueless..."_

_The White Prince threw his arms into the air. "Because the thought that you would do this did not even cross her mind, Allen! She believed that you were more sensible than this! Now h__ow do you think Kayla would feel if she wakes up the next morning and finds out that you went to challenge the Black Prince and got yourself killed or seriously injured in the attempt?"_

_Allen sighed. "Well, __I do have a point, sir. The Black Prince wronged my family."_

_"Eh? Yes, and so does George Herbert. He said, 'Living well is the best revenge.' Live your life well, and show the Black Prince that he failed in getting you angry, that he failed to make you harbor vengeance in your heart, that he failed in fuelling a desire for you to come after him. Such things only amuse him, and believe me, boy, he is more than capable of dispatching such people without even paying much heed to any threat they may be to him."_

_"Who is this 'George Herbert', sir?"_

_The White Prince smiled fondly. "A charming and wise poet, orator, and Angelican priest, who will not be born for centuries yet, on a planet called 'Earth'." Allen raised an eyebrow in skepticism, but the White Prince waved it off with a casual hand gesture. __"__You are going to be a father, Allen. I think that dramatically cuts down how much leeway you have to be young and stupid."_

_"Going to be, sir? But the Black Prince..."_

_"...failed to kill your child. You have a son, boy. I saw him swimming in Kayla's stomach, the precious little thing, and healed him just in time. He will be a fine lad, just like his father."_

_Allen sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness for that! And thank you, sir."_

_"You told me that you would never abandon her. Are you going to leave her to raise a child alone all because of some misguided attempt at revenge, hmmm?"_

_"Now that you mention it, challenging the Black Prince was probably idiotic. What was I thinking?"_

_The White Prince chuckled in amusement. "Probably idiotic? For you? No. Definitely idiotic? Yes." Allen bowed his head slightly to stare at the floor, causing the White Prince to sigh again. "Look, if that still does not work out for you, and you need someone to hate, then hate me."_

_Allen raised his head to look the other man in the eye. "Sir?"_

_"Hate me. Hate me for letting my brother get so out of control. Hate me for not taking his threat as seriously as I should have. Hate me for not stopping him when I could have."_

_"I cannot possibly hate you, sir. You knighted me, took Kayla and I into your employ, hid Kayla's past from detection by your brother, saved our child, and now, you are protecting me from doing something stupid. My family is forever in your debt."_

_The White Prince strode forward down the corridor, quickly passing Allen in a few steps. "__You can repay me by going and tending to your wife._ It has been four years, has it not? Four years since Kayla entered our lives."

_"Yes, sir."_

_"I can say this, you have matured in those four years, and for the better. Now, __I will handle the Black Prince myself."_

_"But sir, what if you end up fighting him?"_

_"Better me than you. At the very least, he will not kill me should I lose." The White Prince left Allen standing behind him in his wake as he departed the scene, a swish of his cape being the last the knight saw of him as he vanished around a corner._

A snap of Maxwell's fingers broke the Doctor from his reminiscence. "The White Prince saw straight through Allen's attempted lie just like that."

Amy tsked without missing a beat. "Because it was lame to begin with?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he was left to think. _"You never liked to lie, Allen, least of all to me. I can understand that. Even when you chose to lie, you did your utmost to insert some semblance of truth in your words. All those little white lies you told, you tried to protect people when they slipped from your lips. That day, I was protecting you and Kayla from the Black Prince. I could never stand it when he got into conflicts, when he kept getting himself into trouble. More often than not, anyone who faced him would be wiped out fairly quickly. And it would irritate him when I stepped in and stood in his way. He would direct all his anger towards me then. I wonder, Allen, were you trying to protect me from that when you lied to me?"_

Max shrugged. "True, but Allen Pierce was not the sort of person who liked to lie, preferring to adhere to the White Prince's belief of truth. If he did lie, there was often a practical reason behind it. He also did try to keep whatever lies he told small, something a habitual liar would probably not bother to do. Well irregardless, I don't think the White Prince was called the '_Hero of Truth_' for nothing."

Amy was flabbergasted. "The 'Hero of Truth'? That's what he was called? Blimey, talk about _ego_."

"Ego or not, that title seems to have been well-deserved, at least my parents think so."

Al groaned. "The man sits upon a high throne like a pompous gasbag and people shower him with praise. Oh please..." The Doctor's fingers twitched in irritation as he attempted to maintain a straight face.

Rory clared his throat. "So am I to assume that the Black Prince was known as..."

"In a title to complement that of his brother's, the Black Prince was called the _'Hero of Ideals_'." replied Max.

Amy shrieked in protest, her face casted in an luminous blue light from the plasma globe held above her head by the Black Prince's statue. "He was no hero!"

Ignoring the Scottish woman's outburst, the Doctor beamed fondly as he gazed at the Black Prince's statue._ "You stood up for any ideals you believed in. You wanted to resolve the cause of that beat which tormented you all this time. That rhythm became one of the only constant things in your life. One... Two... Three... Four... And when your chance came, you seized the day. Driven on by your ideals, you did something you could not have imagined you would ever accomplish. The people of Unova may not have regarded you as such, but you, you were my hero..."_

Max looked at the imposing statues that stood in the plaza. "Those statues, while stunning depictions of the princes in their own right, are rather inaccurate, according to my parents. For one, you see them riding their dragons here. The reality is that the princes died on the day their dragons were created, making it _exceedingly unlikely_ that they ever did mange to ride those Legendary Pokemon. But having a statue of yourself riding an powerful Pokemon like that is one of the ultimate status symbols you can get." His attention shifted to the plume of fire blazing from the palm of the White Prince's statue. "Additionally, although the White Prince _did_ learn to manipulate his aura, he was not known to have the ability to control fire."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Max shook his head. "No evidence of it. While the ability to manipulate aura is limited to only a select few, the White Prince among them, manipulating fire is unheard of in this world."

"Are you absolutely, positively, 100% sure of that, hmmm?"

Al gritted her teeth in frustration with the Doctor. "He already said that there was no evidence! What more do you need? A _written note_ from the White Prince himself saying that he was never able to control flames?"

The Doctor chuckled. "No need. I'm quite sure I'm able to produce that by _myself_. Come to think about it, why would _I_ do that? It's _not the truth_... Hmmm..."

Al turned her face away from the Time Lord. "You know what? I'm not even going to bother figuring out what you meant by that. Make sense for once, will you?"

Amy scoffed. "That's like asking the Doctor to be act _normal_. Exceedingly unlikely to happen."

"You're all wasting my time..." The Doctor ignored Al's complaint as his mind wandered on to another tangent.

_Dressed in flowing formal red robes, with an unusual flower-like golden collar adorning his head and neck, the White Prince sighed as he sat at a small desk, one of several arranged in rows in the room he occupied alone. Holding a single silvery white feather in his hands, he closed his eyes as he felt its silky texture. A single teardrop streamed down his visage as he uttered five names so familiar to him. "Victini… Cobalion… Terrakion… Virizion… Reshi-…"_

_His reverie was soon interrupted by a voice that called out from the room's entrance. "Thete!"_

_The White Prince looked up, catching sight of an olive-skinned man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties standing at the doorway. The man's curly black hair was styled into a crew cut and he possessed an imposing stature, the impression aided by his large hands. His frame was swathed in the same clothes worn by the White Prince. "Rallon…"_

_Rallon walked over to the White Prince's desk, a hand clasping the blonde-haired man's left shoulder. "There you are, I have been looking all over for you. What are you doing here?"_

_The White Prince shrugged with a deep sigh. "Just thinking..."_

"_About what happened? You cannot be moping here forever, Thete."_

"_Where did I go wrong, Rallon? Truth is such a noble concept…"_

"_Just do not forget that it goes hand in hand with ideals."_

_The White Prince snorted. "It does not!"_

"_There is your problem, you cannot accept another viewpoint, just like he could not either when I spoke to him."_

"_The people of Unova probably think I am dead, eh?"_

_Rallon shrugged. "Well, the two of you were fighting in the midst of a collapsing castle, I think that says something about their opinion."_

"_I thought so…"_

_Rallon clapped the White Prince on his shoulder again. "Hey, at least you are back here safe on Gallifrey and alive. That is all that matters."_

_The White Prince sighed. "And in a heap of trouble…"_

"_Oh, cheer up, will you? It could have been a lot worse... By the way, thanks for passing Millennia those tickets for the Deliverers of Lemura concert. Their music was spectacular."_

"_That was eight years ago!"_

"_A pittance of time for us, is it not?"_

"_Hmmm? I suppose you could say that…" The White Prince closed his eyes as he resumed fiddling the feather in his hands._

"_And you came away from it with a piece of the dragon that chose you too."_

_The White Prince shot Rallon a dark look. "Not helping…"_

_Rallon sheepishly held up his hands. "Okay, okay, just calm down."_

"_Calm down?" The White Prince stretched out his right hand, soon generating a sphere of cobalt-blue energy from his palm, which shook unsteadily from its point of origin. "My aura is in turmoil… My state of mind is far from that which is needed to do this properly…" _

"_You learned how to do that over on that planet, no?"_

"_Yeah…" The White Prince closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, the fingers of his right hand soon bending stiffly inwards._

"_You are getting really tense. Are you okay?" The White Prince opened his eyes with a start as the sphere in his hand suddenly erupted into a blazing red-orange flame that quickly soared in height, threatening to scorch the ceiling. The man's eyes widened as the flame soon turned a blinding white, intensifying in temperature._

_Rallon jumped at the sudden display of power and fell over onto his rear end with a thud. "Whoa! You have never done that before!"_

_The White Prince was astounded. "Eh? No, I have not. Never have I created flames or knew I could, for that matter."_

_"Quick, put it out before you burn the place down!" The White Prince clenched his open right hand into a fist, and the flame extinguished itself as quickly as it started._

_Rallon stood up with a start. "Where did you get that power?"_

_"I have no idea…"_

_Rallon bit his lip. "Wait, your dragon… It is the one of fire, is it not?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And your aura was what gave rise to it." Rallon cupped his chin. "Hmmm… You think your dragon could have something to do with this?"_

"_I do not know what to think…"_

"_Well, can he utilize his aura?"_

"_No, much as I have tried to teach him...__ He lacks the spirituality needed to do so, an acceptance of how precious life is, as aura itself is the life energy flowing though you and I. Come to think about it, he did not even seem to be interested in learning. Y__ou know, he never actually bothered to ask me where I learned how to use aura until shortly after that incident."_

_Rallon raised an eyebrow. "The one where he kicked the pregnant woman in the stomach?"_

_The White Prince nodded. "Yes."_

"_That was an extremely low blow. But anyway, if he could use his aura, I wonder if he has any additional ability comparable to that burst of fire you just created."_

_The White Prince shrugged. "It is a possibility I would not dismiss, yes." The man's voice soon trailed off into a somber tone. "But I lost it… I lost them too… Victini, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion…"_

"_And now you are being censured. It will not be easy to get back to Unova in your current circumstances."_

_The White Prince sighed deeply as he set his feather down on the desk, holding up a sheet of parchment he retrieved from a pocket in his robes. "Speaking of being censured, it will take me centuries to finish all this remedial work…"_

_Rallon chuckled lightheartedly. "Maybe you can manage it in a few decades if you are fast. By the way, we have a project to finish with Vansell."_

"_Nosebung? Sigh…"_

"_He would appreciate it if you did not call him that."_

"_I am the leader, I can call him whatever I want! He owes me that much. Handling him, you, and the other seven is proving to be a real handful, I can tell you that."_

_Rallon clapped the other man on the shoulder. "That is the Theta Sigma I know!"_

_The White Prince became serious. "Do not call me 'Theta Sigma'."_

"_That is not your real name, is it?"_

"_What do you think, Rallonwashatellaraw?"_

"_I have no clue what to think, Thete. Anyway, you may have lost some of your close Pokemon friends in Unova, but never forget that you still have some who came back to Gallifrey with you."_

_Rallon gestured to the doorway, prompting the White Prince to turn and see three familiar figures entering the room. "Serperior… Emboar… Samurott…" The White Prince stood up from his chair as his Pokemon ran to meet him, a smile gracing his face as they quickly enveloped him in a tight hug._

_Rallon beamed. "Stop being so distant to them, Thete. What happened in Unova was a big bummer but they can help you get through this, get over this. They care for you, even if Vansell does not, and well, wishes he was leader instead of you."_

"_Nosebung is an idiot…"_

"_Oh, stop calling him that."_

"_Why? He pokes his nose into everyone's business."_

"_As I recall, so do you."_

"_Do not compare me to Vansellostophossius!"_

_Rallon whistled. "Wow, so you can remember his name…"_

_The White Prince rolled his eyes, retrieving his feather from the desk as his Pokemon stood behind him. "Oh go find Millennia and snog somewhere, eh?"_

_Rallon blushed. "Well, you should get to work on your part of the project."_

"_Oh yes, the project… Do not fret, I will have my part done before the deadline. Dunno if I can count on Nosebung to do the same…"_

_Rallon eyed the White Prince's Pokemon. "I am rather jealous of you, Thete. No one else here can boast that they have such fine Pokemon."_

_The White Prince shrugged with a smile as he left the room with his Pokemon. "Well, all I can say is that they have not been to Unova. Thank you, Rallon."_

"_Anytime, Thete. Anytime."_

The Doctor smiled fondly as the image disappeared from his mind. "_You always knew what to say, Rallon."_

His attention was soon drawn away from said image as Max continued to speak. "Also, the Black Prince never learned how to use his aura and certainly was incapable of utilizing electricity, contrary to what his statue suggests. The fire and electricity emerging from the statues' hands are representations of the type affinities of their dragons."

Al cleared her throat, hints of annoyance seeping into her voice. "Alright, cut to the chase. What I'm really here for is some evidence that the White Prince _didn't_ die on the day _his dragon_ was created and fought Zekrom."

Max shrugged. "Well, 'didn't die' is dubious at best."

"You know what I'm talkng about."

"Right. Anyway, you probably already know that my ancestors were the ones who commissioned these statues, taking great efforts to raise the required funds, an endeavour which took the greater parts of their lives after the death of the princes. They hired Harold Hardwick, a renowed sculptor in Unova, to sculpt the statues. Now, along with his two brothers, Harold famously had an encounter with the White Prince when he was a boy, where the man spent the entire day connecting with them, and educating them on his view of life. It was an encounter that would catalyze Harold's career as a sculptor. Harold's brother, Leon, went on to open the Sunset Daycare Center, a famous site for Pokemon Breeders to leave their Pokemon for a while."

Rory nodded. "We know, we've been there before."

"Then I suppose you also know that it's secretly the breeding ground which supplies the young Snivy distributed to beginning Trainers in Unova. My parents really loved to raise that point."

The Doctor frowned slightly at Max's comment. "Not exactly information you should be spreading around like that, hmmm?"

Max shrugged again. "So? What's the harm?"

"So, the Sunset Daycare Center is the location of the region's Snivy breeding ground..." mused Al, a comment that caused the Time Lord to narrow his eyes at her.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes in displeasure at another individual discovering one of Unova's most important secrets. "You see! That's why! Don't undo the White Prince's hard work!"

"Sounds like a conspiracy. Why hide it, I wonder?"

"Because the Snivy evolutionary line are rare and endangered species, no thanks to poaching!

A smirked, eager to rile up the Doctor. "That would be the White Prince's fault, wouldn't it? If he didn't own a Serperior, people won't be inclined to own one either."

The Doctor huffed, irritability crossing his features. "Oh, don't start! And now, one more person knows!"

Max waved the Doctor off dismissively. "Ah, it's_ just one more person_, what's the harm? Not that it really matters."

"One more person? Look at the ground below you. This is a corner of the Central Plaza. This is one corner of one park on one city on one region on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and _never remaining the same for more than a single millisecond_. Easy to miss this spot amidst all that, isn't it? Wrong. Why? Because on this spot, history was made. On this spot, _one more person_ learned the wherabouts of the Snivy breeding ground. And because things_ never remain the same_ for a single millisecond, that one person could become two, which could become four, which could become eight, which could become sixteen, which could become thirty-two, and suddenly, several centuries of secrecy runs the risk of becoming less secure, considering this _one more person's_ pastime... Broadcast this off the roof of the tallest skyscraper in the city, why don't you?"

Amy nodded. "That's the Doctor, never missing the significance in anything."

The Doctor continued to speak. "And if you haven't figured out what I'm trying to say **(3)**..."

Al rolled her eyes. "Whatever..."

The Doctor would not drop the subject as he clenched his fists. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'WHATEVER'? I WILL _NOT ALLOW_ SOME IRRESPONSIBLE TEEN TO JEOPARDIZE THE HARD WORK THAT I-...I MEAN, THE WHITE PRINCE PUT IN TO PROTECT... **(4)**"

Rory let out a yawn. "Uh, Doctor? Don't you think we should just get this over with ASAP so we can go back to sleep?"

The nurse's words had an almost instantaneous effect on the Time Lord as his face quickly sagged, apparently losing the energy it held a moment ago, the lack of sleep catching up to the Doctor. "Right..." _"Blimey, a good amount of those Snivy are descended from m-... I mean, the White Prince's Serperior and Samurott. Those Pokemon were like family to m-... I mean, the White Prince. As such, he will continue to protect their descendants..."_

Al largely ignored the Doctor's angry outburst as she turned to Max. "Anyway, stop stalling!"

Max nodded. "Right, anyway, during the construction of these statues, my ancestors did record a sighting of the White Prince about sixty years after the collapse of the Relic Castle, an event which is commonly taken as the one which caused the princes' deaths."

Amy perked up at the new information. "The White Prince survived?"

"No one knows that for certain, though in their later years, close to the end of their lives, my ancestors themselves believed that they were visited by his ghost." Trying to cool himself off, the Doctor closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, allowing his mind to fade back to a time which he recalled all too well.

_Three figures walked down a well-maintained paved walkway that soon led to a large, nondescript wooden building. The person in the lead, dressed in a simple yellow tunic, cleared his throat as he came to a halt in front of the double doors. Turning to face his two companions, he rested his frame against the doors, the wrinkles on his face betraying his age of seventy-plus years. "My assistants are working around the clock to get as much work done as soon as possible. I have also enlisted many artisans from other regions as consultants. Thank goodness Unova's relations with the other regions have become more cordial in the years after Zekrom's rampage."_

_The blue eyes belonging to one of his companions, a man, winkled as he mustered up a smile on his ninety-something year old visage, his once black hair having taken a shade of dull gray, his unassuming brown shirt and black trousers adding to his humble appearance. "Yes, of course." He moved to take another step forward, but staggered slightly on the walking stick he placed his hand upon._

_The third figure, a woman clad in a white dress, her once long red hair now white and short and done up in a tight bun at the back of her head, held the aged man by the shoulders as she moved to steady him, her pink eyes frowning in concern for his welfare. She shook her head slightly in disapproval as her aged face showed the experience of a person who had seen over ninety years of the world. "Allen, be careful..."_

_The man tightened his grip upon his stick. "I will be fine, Kayla."_

_"Please do not strain yourself. We are not as energetic as we used to be."_

_Allen sighed wistfully. "And yet we have managed to live this long. Best to savour it. I do not think we have all that much time left... Where have all the years gone, Kayla?__"_

_"We lived through hard times, Allen. Now, everything is stable." The elderly woman looked towards the sky. "Just as he would have wanted it."_

_"__If only he could see this now_. His bones are now lying amid the ruins of that grand castle he built..."

___Kayla shook her head slightly. "But we lived for him. All of Unova lived for him. That is what counts now. He has impacted Unova in a way no one else has done, and every person who resides in the region is living proof of that impact._"

_The man in the front pushed open the double doors and turned to face his companions. "The completed pieces at my workshop are ready for your inspection. The help I employed from other regions certainly know what they are doing. Our progress is very sound. Please, step inside."_

_The doors opened to a grand sculptor's workshop. Laden at different points of the room were several pieces of partially completed sculpture, some pieces white and others black. Allen strode to the center of the large chamber, coming face-to-face with a white scuplted visage that he easily recalled from memory. Dwarfed by the face, he tilted his head up to take in all of its features. "Amazing... The likeness is superb..." __A sculptor bit his lip in concentration as he worked a piece of softened ivory into a flat sheet, before giving it some definition by beating it into shape, planning to affix it to the likeness of the White Prince's face. Nearby, an open black hand was taking shape as another sculptor carved details into the trunk of a large ebony tree felled for the purpose of replicating the Black Prince's form. _

_The sculptors soon noticed the newcomers and waved up at the man in front. "Good evening, Harold." _

_The man waved back as Kayla tapped him on the shoulder. __"To get all these artisans to come here must have taken a lot of effort. How did you manage to persuade them, Harold?"_

_Harold shrugged. "They figured that if Unova could climb out of the pit she had dug for herself, she would be a shining example for the rest of the Pokemon world to follow. And besides, in doing this, they are cooperating together on a common endeavour. It is the coexistance that Unova would have with the rest of the Pokemon world the White Prince always wanted."_

_____"_Unova has rebuilt herself, like the White Prince did all those years ago..." muttered Kayla.

_Allen nodded. Well, in any case, I am glad to see the funds we raised are being put to good use. The people were very generous with their donations, but that does not mean we should waste them."_

_Harold strared around the vast expanse of his workshop. "I will ensure that they are, Allen. I want this to be perfect. Five years before his death, the White Prince touched my life and those of my two brothers when we were kids, gave us our first Pokemon, and encouraged us to follow our dreams... He made it clear that he was not above the idea of spending a day with three unimportant peasant boys, and giving them Pokemon of royal pedigree descended from two of his own. This is the best way I can think of repaying him for that. My brother Leon has amassed several Snivy and its evolutions and is constructing a breeding ground to keep the species from going extinct. Curse the poachers for hunting those Pokemon just because the White Prince owned them."_

_Allen cupped his chin in thought. "Could it be then? The White Prince's plan coming to fruition?"_

_Kayla raised an eyebrow at her husband? "What plan?"_

_Allen leaned in to whisper into his wife's ear. "The Tepig breeding ground?"_

_"You did not tell me you ran that until a year after the White Prince died!" Kayla whispered back._

_Allen continued to whisper. "It was supposed to be a secret! But the mission that led to it was one of the best I took part in. When I asked how he planned on protecting the Snivy and Oshawott evolutionary lines, all he did was shrug and say 'Oh, I have plans...' I just trusted that he did, since that is how he functions. Tells people to trust him, and what he plans may take a while to become evident, but it does. I guess he also found a way to protect the Oshawott, but in true fashion so like him, we do not know about it."_

_Harold rolled his eyes in impatience. "What is with all that whispering between you two? Discussing something I should not know about?" _

_Kayla appeared to be flustered. "Oh sorry, Harold. You were saying?"_

_Harold cleared his throat. "As I was saying, since it is the White Prince's symbol, I am sourcing ivory from everywhere I can think of, any recently deceased Pokemon whose bodies can provide the material. Of course, I check to see that the Pokemon died naturally first. We do not want the White Prince to turn in his grave. I know he got rather angry once because of ivory, or where it came from." Harold turned to Allen and Kayla. "You were right there in the thick of it, were you not?"_

_Kayla bit her lip. "Oh, you do not know the half of it, Harold. He was so furious, we were concerned that he might actually demolish the entire castle. That was a few months before he died..."_

_Allen nodded. "Yes, and to think that the princes perished at a dinner event meant to make peace and foster harmony with the other regions. The White Prince saw that as his role. I guess that is why he organized that dinner, to try and smooth over all that friction that Black Prince created between Unova and the rest of the Pokemon world."_

_"But the other regions in the Pokemon world had every right to be mad at Unova after all, as that event instead resulted in the deaths of several of their visiting dignitaries. They declared war on Unova because of that, but Zekrom____ slaughtered their invading troops and put an end to that plan." _

_"That was in the past, and it was caused by the Black Prince." muttered Harold._

_"He proved to be too much to handle, even for the White Prince. Now that the Black Prince is long dead, perhaps Unova can heal, and free herself from all the suspicion and contempt the other regions have casted upon her when he was in power. __There would be no end to any conflict if the present generation is made to carry the sins of_ their forefathers. What the next generation must carry from the previous are virtues instead." Allen sighed deeply. "The White Prince's time has passed, and it is time for the next generation to take on the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world. The best way for everyone to take revenge against the Black Prince now is live life well, and prove that we have not succumbed to the despair and fear he wants us to live under."

_"Did the White Prince happen to, perhaps tell you that?" asked Kayla. "It sounds a lot like something he would say."_

_Allen shrugged. "Perhaps..."_

___"Well, because he died, there was no one left to maintain that peace and balance. People started fighting each other for whatever resources remained. If that invasion by the other regions suceeded, Unova would have collasped completely. Many Pokemon were killed in the fighting, some deliberately because the bond between humans and Pokemon was blamed for Zekrom's creation. And that was when the musketeer trio stepped in and took on the White Prince's peacekeeper role."_

___"Yes, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion made the people feel shame at their warlike ways after the two princes perished. Tearing Unova apart like that solves nothing. Not to mention all those Pokemon whose homes were threathened and destroyed by the fighting. They played the White Prince's role well, a____nd once helped him defend the people from the kami trio destroying their crops under the Black Prince's instructions." Allen sighed deeply as his mind recalled times long since past. "________Now they despise him, their former ally, because his dragon burned down their forest by accident while pursuing Zekrom across Unova. They do not trust humans any longer... If only they could see the truth..."_

___Harold suddenly looked concerned. "Well, I hope they do not decide to come after me then! I had a whole grove of ebony trees chopped down for material to carve the Black Prince's statue! Even in death, the Black Prince still has the potential to cause people problems... Such as t__hose artisans I hired really wanting to know why we are erecting a statue of the Black Prince..."_

_"It is what the White Prince would have wanted." muttered Kayla._

_Harold shrugged. "That's what I try to tell them. And they counter with the argument that the White Prince probably never wanted a statue of himself anyway."_

_"We have to do this for him, or risk the people of Unova forgetting what an impact he had on their lives. Since we cannot give him a tomb, this would be the next best thing."_

_Allen nodded in agreement. "Yes, Unova must never forget her founder..."_

_"You mean 'founders'..." corrected Harold._

_"Right, and the Black Prince too..."_

_Harold nodded. "I see. Well, we might as well retire for dinner now. I hope the work that has been completed so far on the statues has met your expectations."_

_"I think you have exceeded our expectations. And you must be commended for getting so much done in such a short period of time."_

_Harold shrugged as he led his companions out of his workshop towards his house situated nearby. "Please, the thanks should be from me, for letting me have the honor of being allowed to undertake such an endeavour."_

_They were soon meet at the door by a man in his early sixties with a short head of white hair and the same blue eyes as Allen, wearing a green tunic and a pair blue trousers, clothes suitable for days of hard work in the fields. "Hello, father, mother."_

_Allen smiled warmly at the newcomer. "Nice of you to join us for dinner today, Thete." Entering the house, t__he group soon found themselves within its dining room, seated around a rectangular table as they waited for their meal to be served. While making some idle chatter before the food arrived, they soon heard several knocks coming from the direction of the front door. "Hello, it seems that someone is at the door."_

_Kayla shifted slightly in her chair. "Are you expecting anyone else tonight, Harold?"_

_Harold shook his head. "No, I do not believe so." With a shrug, he rose from his seat to answer the door, which__ opened to reveal a weather-beaten man who appeared to be in his late seventies, his visage framed by an unkemp crop of steel gray hair that seemed to be roughly sheared short near the back of his head, with several strands falling over his face. He was dressed in a brown hooded cloak of burlap and holding a stick for support. "Who are you?"_

_The man at the door paused briefly before he gave an answer to Harold's inquiry. "Just a stranger come to call. I have traveled a long way before arriving here and was wondering if any of you kind folk know of a place where I can catch a quick meal before I go on my way again."_

The Doctor was snapped back into awareness of his surroundings when Al chose to speak up. "So your ancestors just let a complete stranger in like that?"

Max replied in turn. "Well, in was in the White Prince made it his philosophy to extend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, and so, my ancestors decided that they should emulate that trait and at least let this man have a meal. My parents like to think that the White Prince would have found the gesture to be a greater tribute to him than the erection of a large statue in his likeness."

The Doctor beamed. "And they would be right. Anyway, talking to strangers... I do that all the time. It's how I meet new people. And every person has a tale to tell! I could never get tired of learning all there is about the world through the mouths of those who have experienced it more than I have! What better way to learn about people than just by hearing them out?"

Amy shrugged. "My mother always told me not to talk to strangers."

"But did you ever listen to her?" inquired the Doctor.

Amy could swear that she detected an iota of amusement in the Doctor's voice. "Well, I let_ you_ into my house when you crash landed in my front yard all those years ago **(5)**, didn't I? And the first thing you did was ask for an apple when you popped your head out of the TARDIS."

The Time Lord smiled fondly. "Ah yes, didn't quite like those, if I remember correctly. Liked the smiley face though **(6)**."

The Scottish woman began to count off a list of food with her fingers. "Not just the apple, you went through yogurt, bacon, beans, bread and butter, and didn't even want to try carrots, before settling on..."

Rory could predict the next four words to be spoken as they left the mouths of the Doctor and Amy simultaneously. "...fish fingers and custard!"

"That's disgusting..." muttered Al, earning her a dirty look from the Doctor. She ignored it and turned to Max. "Your ancestors still let someone in without knowing who he was."

"In any case, as it turns out, they are certainly glad they did. While his sudden appearance on Harold's doorstep was a surprise, they decided to welcome him into their company regardless."

"Stop stalling and get to the point. You've been beating around the bush _all morning_."

"Right, well, this stranger had charisma, and proved to be a lively and entertaining presence at the dinner table that night. He also had a lot to say. My ancestors certainly warmed up to him very quickly. Although, Allen couldn't quite shake off the feeling that there was something peculiar yet familar about this stranger they had allowed to dine with them. His suspicions weren't confirmed until it was time for the stranger to leave though." The Doctor chuckled to himself as he mentally drifted away from his current place in time and space.

_The traveller stood up from his place at the dinner table, using his stick as an aid to do so. "Well, I must thank you for the meal. I apologize for not staying around, but I really must be on my way. I am not the sort to stay in on place for too long, you know."_

_Harold bit his lip. "Are you sure you do not want to stay the night here? We have quite enjoyed your company, and you can continue your travels tomorrow. Besides, the local inn is expensive this time of year and especially for someone if your age, it is dangerous to go out alone at night with the bandits and highwaymen about."_

_"Hmmm? You strike a kind offer, but I must refuse. I cannot impose on your hospitality any further."_

_Thete opened his mouth to speak, instantly obtaining the traveller's attention. "We never did get your name..."_

_The traveller chuckled, laughter that carried with it a sense of knowing. "And I never did quite get yours, son of Allen Pierce."_

_Allen perked up. "That would be an easy one. My son is named after the White Prince himself."_

_"Eh? Your son is named after the White Prince, you say? Fitting for a former knight of his..." The traveller turned to face the man, raising his hand above the other person's head with a smile as the appendage was covered with a cobalt-blue glow. __"So you are the boy I saw all those decades ago... Blessings upon you then,..." A pause, and the traveller uttered a single world past his lips. "...Thete..."_

_Allen's eyes widened. "That's aura! This man can manipulate his aura!"_

_Thete made no attempt to hide the dumbfounded expression upon his face. "You saw me in the past? But I have never met you before!"_

_The traveller flashed a knowing smile. "Eh? __I have, before you were even born in fact..."_

_"What?"_

_"Your life was threathened by the Black Prince back then, and you could have died..." Kayla gasped at recognition of the past event being referenced. "But you were healed. I think you should know by whom..."_

_Taken aback by the display, Allen stared the traveller in the eyes. "Who are you?"_

_The traveller chuckled as he ignored Allen's question. "Well, look at the time! I must be on my way now... People to see, places to visit, things to do... The journey goes ever on and on!" The man headed for the next room, from which the front door offered access to the outside world._

_Harold hastily moved from his seat to follow the traveller. "Are you sure that you cannot stay?"_

_Allen followed suit, curious about the traveller's nature. "Yes, do stay and talk some more."_

_The traveller stopped at the front door, having just opened it. "Your offer is kind, but as I have said before, I really have to go. Oh, there is one thing I have to show you." The traveller's hand moved to his waist, as he gripped an object hidden under his cloak. Before Allen and Harold's eyes, the traveller's facial features transformed into the youthful visage of a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, head topped with blonde hair that was combed back to expose much of his forehead. The traveller spoke, his voice suddenly sounding vastly younger than before. "Hello, Allen, Harold..." The traveller smiled as their astonishment before covering his face with his hood as he turned his back on the men and walked away._

_Allen regained his composure a split second later as he called loudly after the departing traveller. "Sir, wait!" Turning away for a brief moment, he beckoned to his wife. "Kayla! Come quickly!"_

_Kayla rushed over to the doorway. "What? What is it?"_

_"The White Prince... Our guest was the White Prince!" Turning to glance out the door, Allen sighed as his eyes registered no one in sight. "He is gone..."_

_Thete shook his head in disbelief. "That cannot be. He is dead, remember?"_

_Allen huffed. "I know what I saw! The speech quirks, the aura usage, and now his face! It is undeniably the White Prince!"_

_"Father, maybe you should take a rest first... It has been a long day..." replied Thete._

_"You do not believe me, son? If it was not for this man, you would not be standing here today!"_

___Kayla placed her hand on her husband's shoulder. "I believe you, dear... But if it really is him, why did he not reveal himself earlier?"_

_Harold shrugged. "The man is just full of mystery..."_

_Before anyone could respond, a loud and booming voice spoke out, echoing throughout the house, startling everyone present. "Allen... Kayla... Harold... Look what you have done... Just look... Here you all are, writing the next chapter in Unova's history, doing your utmost to preserve my image and that of my brother's, for all the region to remember, as you shine forth towards the future in a time where it is yours to make, not mine... But I have said that before, as I am sure Harold will recall... All those years ago, you all believed in me, that I was the one who could change Unova for the better... And now, look where we are. It is good to see how this fair land has changed in so little time... We have come so far, and there is still a long, long way to go..."_

_Kayla gasped. "That is the White Prince's voice! He really did come here!"_

_"But above all, you helped to reignite that primal emotion all men need in their hearts. Hope. Hope that Unova can rise again from the ashes of its past, and carry on to the future." The White Prince's voice laughed heartily. "This old man has made several mistakes before, but he sure is not mistaken in saying that Unova is managing quite well without him! I believe that all of you have hopes and dreams... Go forward and seize them, and prove to me that I was not wrong in placing them with you!" The White Prince's voice chuckled sadly. "I do not belong here anymore, it seems... Looks like this fair land has no need for her White Prince any more, making her way without him and all..." The voice turned gleeful. "But nevermind that! May you all find the endings you desire! I am afraid that this is the last you will see of me... At least, the last you will see of me looking like this, with that face you lot are used to all those years back... For me, I do not really fancy endings... Hate them, actually. It means I have to say goodbye... Goodbye to so many good people I have met and never want to let go if I had a choice... But it must be done, for w__hat I cannot stand more than endings are repeats... It just means I have to say goodbye another time, s__howing up here to relive my past, and making you all remember it once again." The White Prince's voice began to break ever so slightly. "I must say goodbye now, for if I do not, I will never move on... And frankly, all of you need to do that too... __Unova needs to move on... Remember, you must not sacrifice a piece of the future to bring back the past. Wallowing in the past will not do anyone any favours. __Reliving the same thing over and over and looking back at all the things you have done and being all caught up in history and not looking forward... Drives you bonkers, does it not? Might explain my behavior at times too! But now I must be off... Farewell!"_

_Harold closed his eyes as the White Prince's voice faded away. "Amazing..."_

_"Father, who was that?" asked Thete._

_Allen smiled sadly. "A great man, Thete. One I had the pleasure of personally knowing. You are his namesake after all."_

_"But that was so long ago, and now he looks so young still. Is he..."_

_"I have no idea, son. But if he has passed on to the afterlife, then we must feel honored that his ghost decided to pay us a visit."_

_"Well, wherever he is now, I suppose we can say that he is happy. Happy and free from all those problems he had to deal with in life..." muttered Kayla._

_Allen sighed as he wiped a lone teardrop from the corner of his eye. "Sir... Thank you... For everything..." _

The Doctor shook aside the mental image with a sigh as Al nodded her head. "So, that's the _famous_ White Prince ghost sighting I've heard so much about. Sounds like a conspiracy alright."

Max continued to speak. "The validity of my ancestors' account remains questionable to this day, with skeptics claiming that it was a publicity stunt staged by them to try and garner donations for the statues. There are some however, like my parents, who believe that the White Prince survived the collapse of his castle and visited them all those decades later. After all, no one ever found the White Prince's remains, offering possible credibility to the theory that he survived, though it's equally possible that they were simply lost among the ruins of the Relic Castle. Besides, that doesn't explain his apparent lack of aging in sixty years when my ancestors '_saw_' him in their old age. To them, his physical appearance looked _exactly the same_ as when they _last saw him_, months before his '_death'_, which suggests that they might have seen a ghost. Interestingly, unlike a ghost, he was tangible, which seems to point to the idea that if he survived, he is certainly _not_ an ordinary human being."

"Just like a Time Lord **(7)**..." muttered the Doctor.

The Time Lord was forced to resist the onset of a teardrop threathening to flow down his cheek at what Max said next. "However, shortly after that incident, the remains of the two princes' non-Legendary Pokemon were unearthed amidst the Relic Castle's ruins, _confirming that they died in its collapse_, and have been interred at the highest level of Unova's most famous Pokemon graveyeard, the Celestial Tower on Route 7, between Mistralton City and Icirrus City. To this day, their graves receive several visitors everyday who come to pay their respects."

Al clapped slowly as she rolled her eyes. "Not bad, Maxwell. You _actually managed to satisfy me_, unlike most people who claim to be purveyors of information…"

"Do you have what I came for?" Al wordlessly nodded, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a small cylindrical silver metal tin, akin to those that held shoe polish. Max took it with barely contained excitement. "Ah, that Metal Coat should help my Scyther evolve into a Scizor. I cannot afford to fall behind my brother!"

"Oh and by the way, drop the mature act. It doesn't make you seem any more grown-up."

"What?"

"Oi! Stop repeating my line!" protested the Doctor.

Al rolled her eyes as she ignored the Time Lord to address Max. "Acting clever like that to try and impress me. Really now, you don't give a damn about Unova's history, do you? You're just reiterating what your parents tried to teach you in order to make a quick profit from me, loathe as I am to give it to you, you did prove useful."

Rory blinked in disbelief. "Wait, so this whole meeting was all for some transaction? Using little known parts of Unova's history for your own personal gain? That's just...plain low."

Max raised his hands defensively. "Hey, my parents tried to dump all this stuff in my head. Might as well use it in a way that benefits me."

The nurse cast the statues looming over him a quick glance before turning back to face the boy. "I think it sounds utterly disrespectful."

Al sighed. "I don't need a lecture from you."

Max stiffened his frame. "Whatever..." He turned his gaze up to the statues in turn. "The courage of truth, and the power of ideals. Two driving forces that shaped Unova... Well, that's what my dad says anyway..."

The Doctor cupped his chin thoughtfully. "There was always a trait associated with the beliefs of the two princes..."

Max nodded. "The White Prince sought truth, and in doing so, he acquired courage, courage beyond the measure of anyone in Unova, courage so special, so sacrosanct, the recipient required the backing of a Legendary Pokemon to receive it. The White Prince found the courage of truth. It takes courage to pursue the truth, because it could be this ugly thing that can shock you to the core, and it takes courage to expose the truth to others and bring it out into the open, for there will be those that would prefer to live in ignorance rather than face the truth. And the White Prince brought the truth forward to everyone, he's Unova's _courageous_ Hero of Truth."

"And what of the Black Prince?" asked Rory.

Max bit his lip in hesitation. "Like his brother, the Black Prince received a special trait of his very own. Power. More specifically, in his quest to pursue his ideals under any means possible _and suceed_, he needed power. Power so immense, it was beyond the comprehension of anyone in Unova. Only a Legendary Pokemon could bestow this sacred power, the power of ideals. Power is needed to propel ideals forward. With it, one could bend the masses to his will and make them see his point of view, make them follow his ideals, and crush any resistance they may put up. No one exemplified that surging of ideals better than the Black Prince, Unova's _powerful_ Hero of Ideals."

Max took a deep breath before he continued. "But those traits also were integral parts of the princes' personalities, for on that fateful day, the Black Prince's power was brought to the forefront as he went on the direct attack, and engaged his brother in yet another argument about beliefs. In his quest to prove the superiority of ideals over truth, his attacks on his brother's truth increased in intensity until they reached their highest point ever, driving their dragon to the breaking point and systematically demolishing the mental walls it had erected over the years to shield itself from the mental anguish that their disputes caused it. This particular triggering of the Black Prince's power caused the Relic Castle to tremble from stress as the dragon ripped itself asunder, creating two new dragons. But the White Prince refused to back down. He met his brother's power with his courage, and chose to stand up and fight back, for the sake of his beliefs, rather than shirk back and let the Black Prince crawl all over his head. According to my dad, he courageously fought his brother to his death on that fateful day, defying every strike of power with his own steely resolve fueled by courage, never running away despite the fact that he might, and _did_, die amid the collapsing Relic Castle. His courage shone through as he ordered everyone to evacuate the castle while he dueled the Black Prince, knowing that any bystanders would be placed in peril from all the chaos that was erupting around them." The boy paused for dramatic effect. "That was a dark day for Unova indeed."

Al groaned. "What a lot of propaganda. It's ridiculous when you think about it. Glorifying the White Prince and vilifying the Black Prince..."

Locked in thought, the Doctor narrowed his eyes at Al in displeasure for a split second before turning to look at the Black Prince's statue. _"Nevermind the praise on my part, no one should be putting you down! No one! Personally, I thought you were brilliant all those years ago... I still think so today. How have you turned out, old friend? It's been a long time since I last saw you..."_

Max shrugged. "Well, I'm not the one that came up with this stuff. look at the time. I really have to be off now. Gotta head on home and sleep like a log for a few more hours. I must say though, it was nice meeting you people. Perhaps we'll see each other again."

The Doctor smirked. "Considering the fact that we know your brother, I'm sure we will. Sooner than you think, in fact."

Max shuffled uncomfortably at the Doctor's comment. "Oh yes, Nathen... That arrogant..." He trailed off before hastily changing the subject. "Yeah, well, we'll see about that."

The Time Lord chuckled. "Yes, we shall." Max offered no reply, turning his back on the group as he simply shoved his hands into his pockets, walking away from the boundary of the Central Plaza.

Amy stared at Max's retreating back. "Hmmm... Badmouthing your brother in public in front of relatively new acquaintances. Not very good taste."

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe, but it sure tastes better than a Star Whale's vomit, I can tell you that."

Amy balked in disgust. "Urgh, did you have to bring that up at this time, Doctor? Don't make me sick of breakfast before I've had it."

"About breakfast, you go ahead on that, Pond. I think I'll sleep in for a while longer."

Rory nodded. "A hero then. Max said that the White Prince died a hero."

Al rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're buying into this nonsense as well..."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, he didn't."

Rory raised an eyebrow. "What? But he was courageous and brave and…"

The Time Lord closed his eyes with a deep sigh as his hands began to clench into fists. "No, he wasn't…" Behind the Time Lord, the red flames emitted from the hand of the White Prince's statue began to increase slightly in intensity.

"What?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth as his words escaped in barely a whisper, the flames from the statue dancing with greater fervor. "The White Prince wasn't courageous. He was a _coward_…"

"Do you know what you are saying, Doctor?"

The Doctor shouted, setting his companions aback. "Of course I do! I should know better than all of you!" As if cued by to do so by a cosmic stage manager, the red flames shot into the atmosphere in a towering inferno, their crimson shade soon turning an ashen white, reflecting their rise in temperature.

Amy leapt backwards with a shriek of surprise as the flames spiralled down towards the Doctor, swirling around his frame. "Doctor? What's going on? What's gotten into you?"

The Doctor opened his eyes wide, revealing them to be completely white, his irises and pupils nowhere in sight. His mouth tore itself open to scream savagely. "NOTHING! WOULD YOU ALL THINK POSITIVELY IF YOU KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT HIM? WOULD YOU?"

Rory pulled his wife further away from the emboldened flames as they began to engulf the Time Lord. "Stand back!" It was a request Al wasted no time in complying with.

The flames began to swirl around the Doctor's feet, covering his lower half as his right hand went up to point at the statue they originated from. "ALL THIS TIME, YOU THINK YOU KNOW ALL THERE IS THE KNOW WHEN IT COMES TO THE WHITE PRINCE! EVERYONE IS LIKE, 'OH, HE DIED HEROICALLY WHILE TRYING TO HOLD OFF HIS BROTHER!' DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO HE REALLY IS, HMMM? YOU WANT THE TRUTH? I'LL GIVE YOU THE TRUTH! AND YOU HAD ALL BETTER HEAR ME OUT BECAUSE IF YOU LIKED THE WHITE PRINCE, WHAT I HAVE TO SAY NEXT WILL SHAKE YOUR BELIEF OF HIM TO THE CORE!"

Amy trembled at the Doctor's change in demenor. The Doctor she knew took her to the ends of the Earth and back, showing her all the wonders of the Universe that came their way, fulfilling a promise he made to her when she was but a child. Sure, it took him fourteen years to act on it, and sure, she was bitter and resentful at him for making everyone around her think she was delusional, but it was a grudge that quickly faded away the day she stepped into his TARDIS for the very first time, and took in the vast expanse of his console room, bigger on the inside than on the outside, a violation of the laws of physics that should be impossible, yet it was true. She recalled being mystified at the mishmash of devices that composed the TARDIS' hexagonal control panel. It looked like a child had haphazardly selected and attached them to their panels, yet this was what would enable them to make their journeys. Together, they explored across time and space, everywhere and anywhere, everything that ever was and ever will be, all avaliable for them to access at will. And his question to her on that fateful first day of their travels together? "Where do you want to start?"

It was a harmless question born from curiousity and a lust for adventure, but it gave rise to all those adventures he took her on in the time they knew each other. He had stopped the Atraxi from torching Leadworth to the ground as they searched for a prisoner. He exposed Starship UK's true nature to its monarch and enabled them to live in harmony with the Star Whale upon whose back their country was built. He had thwarted an attempt by the Daleks to expose London to the bombing sights of the Luftwaffe and destroy the Earth with a bomb housed in an android in the midst of World War II. He erased a group of Weeping Angels from time as punishment for attempting to kill her for their own simple amusement. He had stopped a group of Saturnyns from converting Venice's women into members of their species and turning the city into their own personal kingdom. He had shown her the dark side of his soul and exposed his own shortcomings to her, convincing her of her love for Rory. He managed to negotiate a truce with a faction of Silurians who were prepared to wage war against humanity for ownership of the Earth, though Rory was killed and erased from time in the process. He was the only doctor to recognize Vincent van Gogh's unique perception of the world, and lift the artist out of his depression, if only temporarily. He solved the mystery of a timeship who had kidnapped and killed people in its search for a suitable pilot after its original crew died. And finally, he had beaten a coalition of his enemies who believed that he would destroy the Universe and sealed him a prison, only for him to emerge and do the opposite, recreating the Universe itself and reviving Rory, allowing her to be reunited with her beloved.

This man was completely willing to execute or damn complete populations of his enemies merely because they threathened her. Amy hated to admit it, but it was a side of him that she secretly feared. He was a man who offered no second chances, and she feared for him. She feared that he would open himself up to homocidal madness if he had no one to hold him back. But what was it about the White Prince that made the Doctor ask in such a manner perverse to his usual demenor? She had no idea how it was possible, but with no evident trace of fear on his visage, the flames danced around his body as if they were yet another ally of his. And today, they were threathening to incinerate the park. Surely, this man could not be the same as the raggedy stranger that whisked her off in his time machine not so long ago, could he? "Doctor, please! You're scaring me!"

The Doctor's eyes widened at Amy's plea. What good was his vow to protect her if he wound up making her fear him? _"I scared her... Scared her... And I swore to myself I would protect her... Staying will complicate things... There's just one thing left to do now..." _He clenched his eyes shut, willing the teardrops that were about to escape to halt their pace for a just few more seconds. "HE WAS A COWARD! A BLOODY COWARD! AND THIS IS WHY!"

Without giving any of his companions a chance to respond, the Time Lord tilted his head to the sky and let out an almost beastial scream as the white fire completely engulfed his frame in a wall of immense heat that proved unapproachable to his companions. Under cover of the flames, he turned tail and tore away from the Central Plaza, running as quickly as his long legs would take him, as he relished the distance they placed between himself and the companions he was leaving behind.

The white fire soon dispersed to reveal the Doctor gone, the flames soon returning to their original red color, shrinking in intensity as they resumed their dance above the ivory man's palm. Strangely, the grass where the Time Lord was standing had no signs of fire damage whatsoever. "DOCTOR!"

"That man is nuts…" muttered Al.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Central Plaza, January 21, 2011, 1:15 a.m.)_

The grass was flattened under the trample of the Doctor's feet as he continued to run through the trees of the park, not stopping until he reached a small, circular clearing, created by the open space around several tree roots. He had stumbled and fallen several times on his trek here, each time picking himself up again and forcing his legs to take hiim faster, farther, away from his current location, for he feared that his companions might give chase and catch up to him, especially Amy, with her long and slender legs. But now that he had arrived, he squeezed his eyelids shut again in a bid to keep teardrops from flowing down his cheeks, an attempt which proved to be futile as they escaped from the corners of his eyes. "_____What have I done? Amy, Rory... Amy was the first, the first face these new eyes of mine have ever laid themselves upon. And they were seared upon my hearts. And yet, I almost hurt them... Now, I'm running... Running! What did I do when I was eight? Did I become enlightened? Did I go mad? No, I ran! What did the White Prince do when his people needed him the most? He_ ran, that's what! What did I do in my last life when I discovered my death was immenent? I ran! And what am I doing now? Running! Running instead of facing the truth!" 

The Time Lord shook his head as he wiped the teardrops from his visage, flinging them from his hand to the grass in disgust with himself._ "I'm running____ from the truth and I'm the Hero of Truth! What they all believe is an idealized tale about the White Prince. I should be ashamed of myself... Knowing how the truth works, it will out one day, and they will know. They will know the truth... I could tell them now, but that would be taking a shortcut, and there are no shortcuts to the truth..."_ The Doctor stretched out his right arm, turning his open palm up towards the sky. The fingers of his right hand twitched slightly before a small white flame appeared over his palm, its shape soon morphing into the form of a white dragon, a miniature of the creature upon whose back the White Prince's statue rode._ "Here I am, slipping in my beliefs... Do____ I still deserve your blessing? Did I ever?"_

* * *

___(Undisclosed location, January 21, 2011, 1:30 a.m.)_

Within the depths of the dark room frequently used by the seven men, the figure shifted impatiently in his chair at the head of the table, as the fingers of his right hand methodically tapped themselves against the surface of the long rectangular hardwood table, four times per beat. The noise echoed throughout the chamber, its acoustics befitting its purpose as a meeting room. His self-entertainment came to an abrupt halt as his ears picked up upon the distinct sound of knocking on the other side of the door. "Enter" A few distinct footsteps was enough for the figure to discern the identity of the newcomer. The figure wasted no time in addressing the other person. "You are late..."

Felix chuckled gleefully as he twidled with the ends of his jester hat. "Ah! And you, my friend, are early!"

"Get this through your head, I am_ not _your friend. I am your boss." The figure slammed his fist upon the table, disturbing the softball-sized black stone sphere on its surface. The sphere rolled off its place upon the table, hitting the floor with a distinct "thud".

Felix lazily cast a glance at the figure from the corner of his eye. "You are not concerned that it will break? That's the core of Zekrom you just dropped. If you damage it, _whoops_, there goes our_ hard work_, flushed down the drain faster that excrement in a toilet."

"And that is why it _won't_ break, you imbecile. Do you honestly believe that the relic of a Legendary Pokemon is this fragile? Actually think before you shoot your mouth off, why don't you? Now, pick it up."

Felix shrugged as hecomplied with the order, retrieving the black stone sphere from the floor and placing it in the waiting palm of the cloaked figure. "Oh, yes siree, Bob!"

"My name is _not_ 'Bob'..." The figure hissed in displeasure as he tossed the stone orb into the air and caught it with no effort on his part. "Be quiet before you find this thing flying at your head, which must be bare and full of air, dead flies, and bits of fluff."

Felix clapped his hands repeatedly. "Oh goody! I've _always wondered_ what it would be like to be whacked by a Legendary Pokemon!"

"You think you're _just so charming_, don't you?"

Felix nodded vigourously, a thin stream of crimson liquid leaking out the corner of his mouth. "Aren't I always?"

"Not like that. Clean yourself off." demanded the figure. When the man in front of him failed to comply, the figure gripped the edge of the table, poised to stand up from his chair. "Now."

Felix sucked in the liquid with a slurp. "Mmmm... The coppery taste in these drops is strong indeed."

The figure busied himself with examining the sphere he held, casting occasional glances at the one that still remained on the table, a white stone sphere of proportions identical to the black one. "I would advise that you show some respect in my presence. Otherwise, I cannot be held accountable for any _incidents_ that might come upon you."

"Whatever you say, _'Not Bob'_. Seriously now, poor choice in names there..."

The figure hissed. "Do not try my patience." He afforded the stone sphere in his hand a brief moment of his undivided attention, muttering to it under his voice. "Stupid brute of a dragon..."

Felix rolled his eyes. "I don't know if Zekrom sealed up in that stone can sense what is going on outside, but if it can and you annoy it, you have less capacity in your brain than a 128MB flashdrive."

The chair upon which the cloaked figure sat was kicked aside, slamming into the nearby wall with a crash of tumbling wood. Now firmly on his feet, the figure reared his hand back, the round projectile firm in his grasp. "DON'T PATRONIZE ME!" With a deft forward motion, the figure flung the stone sphere directly at Felix, catching the man off-guard as the projectile smashed into his stomach. Felix was thrown backwards with barely any time to even blink, uttering a low groan of pain when his shoulder blades smacked into the far wall. The figure stared at Felix's crumpled form with satisfaction as he righted his chair and sat back down. "Let this be a lesson to you. Know your place."

Felix coughed as he staggered to his feet, his face showing no evident signs of pain from the blow he was dealt. "That was quite a throw. A throw so hard, the Electabuzz team's star pitcher cannot hope to match it. And with Zekrom's core too, not a baseball."

The figure chuckled sardonically. "At least you're good for giving credit where credit is due. And now, concern yourself with ensuring that this operation goes off without a hitch. If we suceed..."

Felix waved his hand dismissively at the figure. "Yeah, yeah, I know. If we suceed, we deny the Doctor access to a potentially valuable asset."

"And if we fail..."

"If we fail, the Doctor would then gain a significant advantage over us, and we might have to resort to _drastic measures_. Don't worry your little head off, I've _got it memorized_."

Unable to see the figure's face beneath the hooded cloak, Felix could swear that the figure narrowed his eyes. "We do not have all the necessary resources yet to proceed with the resurrection project, as it is only a back-up plan should things go awry. Do keep that in mind. If the Doctor should manage to best us in Castelia City, he would then have the capacity to single-handedly wipe out all of our operations."

"Now, what do you want me to do next?" Felix crossed his arms mockingly. "And _please_ don't ask for a massage."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. You are to rendezvous with the agents located at our new hideout in Castelia City, the location of which should have been made known to you by now. From there, you will be directed accordingly by Ghetsis. Understand?"

"As clearly as crystal!"

"Good, now put the Dark Stone back on the table and get out of my sight."

Felix beamed as he complied with the order, setting the aforementioned object down. "I'll be gone so fast, you'll be looking at my afterimage, pal!"

The figure held out his hand, materializing a cobalt-blue sphere of energy, pointed directly at Felix's head. "You're not gone fast enough. I'll give you until five. One..." He need not say anything more, for Felix was soon gone from the room. The figure dissipated the sphere of energy with a sigh. "I'm getting too old to deal with this nonsense..."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 21, 2011, 2 a.m.)_

Having returned to the Pokemon Center after treking his way back from the Central Plaza, the Doctor eased himself into one of the facility's couches, his hands fumbling with a closed steel box. Carefully opening the box and retrieving the manila folder from within, the Time Lord proceeded to look through the sheets of paper it held, stopping when he found the one he desired. _"I know I only just read a page from this mere hours ago, but what's a little reading material beofre I go to sleep? Besides, I've got to make sure that the others find their way back to the Pokemon Center and meet up with me again, so I guess I could spare a few minutes to look."_

* * *

_-3-_

_O: All that aside, T is one person you really cannot lie to. He can detect deceit in an instant._

_O: I wonder if he is aware of what we are doing now…_

_L: I believe he has an inkling, of course. The Hero of Truth knows what goes on seemingly behind his back. He was always a realist and a sharp one at that._

_O: To think that the people of Unova adored him and he showed such promise as well. It is really just too bad._

_I: A young and foolish delinquent having the hold of an entire region like that? And being loved for it? Inconceivable! All those titles they have bestowed upon him! White Prince of Unova! Hero of Truth! Master of R!_

_L: Simmer down, I. You may not like it, but yet it is all true. He does deserve the praise._

_K: Additionally, T was also very righteous, was he not? Generally morally sound, his actions are often justified, and he is quite virtuous, being honestly answerable only to himself. That trait is reflected in his dragon's appearance, and I suspect that trait was what enabled him to win the support of three more Legendary Pokemon. His partnership with them is quite the feat, considering their nature._

_F: Do you refer to C, T, and V, also known as the 'Musketeer Trio'?_

_R: Yes, though why T calls them that is beyond me. They are also known as the 'Swords of Justice'. Anyway, these three Pokemon are hailed throughout Unova for being the defenders of Pokemon living in the region, having made a vow to protect them and their homes from human exploitation. Considering that, they are generally wary of humans, and strive to keep a firm distance between themselves and people, attacking if necessary._

_O: The people of Unova know them well. C, who leads the trio, shielded by a body of tempered steels, is able to make practically any Pokemon it sets eyes upon obey it with a single glare._

_M: There is also T, physically the strongest of the trio, whose rock-hard body is capable of demolishing a well-built castle wall with a single charge._

_K: And finally, we have V, the fastest and most graceful of the trio, who can use its natural speed and agility to confuse and then cut its opponents._

_L: They are impressive, and it was indeed a true feat that T gained them as allies. But let us not forget that if it was not for V, that would all not be possible._

_M: V was a most valuable ally of T, was it not?_

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Lobby, January 21, 2011, 2:30 a.m.)_

_Well, at least some of them think that m-... I mean the White Prince's accomplishments should be praised. And those allies of his, how could I-... I mean, him ever forget them? That was a fine partnership, if I do say so myself..." _

Breathing a sigh at her long work hours, Nurse Joy shuffled through a stack of papers resting upon her counter, ostentsibly the medical records of the Pokemon currently warded in the facility. A tap on her back was enough to alert her to her Audino's presence. "Audino?"

The Hearing Pokemon pointed at the Doctor. "Audino. Aud. Aud. Audino."

Nurse Joy set her papers down as she caught sight of the couch's occupant. "Oh, that reminds me. Thanks, Audino." The woman strode over to the Time Lord. "Doctor?"

The Doctor peered over the paper he was reading himself. "Hmmm? What is it, Nurse Joy?"

Nurse Joy reached into a pocket of her apron, pulling out a white envelope. "This came in for you from Professor Juniper, sent through priority mail. She specifically requested that I find a time to give it to you at a time while..." The Time Lord perked up as he dismissively waved Nurse Joy off, just as the doors to the Pokemon Center slid open to grant Rory, Amy, and Al passage into the building. The woman quickly assumed her usual position behind the counter as Amy was quick to rush over to the Doctor's side.

"Doctor! There you are! We've been looking all over for you!"

The Doctor smiled, a smile that was marred with exhaustion on the part of its wearer. "I trust that you have, Pond."

"Where have you been? You just ran off like that!"

"Oh yes, sorry about that."

Amy sighed deeply. "I'll probably never get used to how you keep doing that. But anwyay, earlier you said you knew the truth. The truth about the White Prince. And when you were shouting just now, somehow, the statue's flames went all white and starting to swirl around you!" The woman trembled slightly before she continued speaking, her tone bodering on the hysterical. "I was scared, Doctor, scared of what you might do, scared of what the fire might burn, and scared for all of us. And that the fire went back to normal and you just disappeared! We searched for you everywhere before coming back here and you're just sitting on the sofa like nothing happened! Do you have any idea how worried sick I was about you?"

The Doctor closed his eyes solemnly as he stood up from the couch. "I know what I did was uncalled for, but you have to trust me when I say that I_ cannot_ let you know that truth now."

"Then when?"

"You need to trust me when I say you might not know now, or possibly ever. Your trust in me is of the utmost importance."

Amy bit her lip. "But you don't always tell me _the truth_."

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, leaning in to whisper the next few words into her ear. "Because the truth _cannot be forced_, Amy. And if I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me **(8)**. Can you do that for me?"

Amy seemed to relax in the Doctor's arms as she closed her eyes in turn. _"No matter what he's put me through, no matter how many times he's made me worry, no matter how many times I've found myself at risk because of some newfangled adventure idea of his, I just can't stay mad at the Doctor. It's impossible."_ "I've done it for you more times than I can count. It's a wonder our trust in you hasn't gotten Rory and I killed yet, you crazy, crazy man."

"Thank you, Pond."

"I'm not taking my eyes off you, buster. Don't think _for a second_ you can just sidestep this topic in the future, because I_ will be_ looking for an explaination."

The Doctor beamed. "That's the Amy Pond I know. Alright, now you'd really best be headed to bed."

Amy pouted childishly in mock protest. "You're not my dad, Doctor."

The Doctor remained firm. "Go to Bed. _Now_."

"Spoilsport…"

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's go, Rory. Good night, Doctor." The woman took her leave from the lobby, soon disappearing from sight. Before long, the sound of footsteps up the stairs leading to her room were the only indicator of her presence.

Rory stopped in front of the Doctor, causing the Time Lord to sigh. "Are you gonna let me have it as well, Rory?"

"No, I trust that you have your reasons for doing what you did. But I'm going to put up with you for Amy's sake. She has faith in you and would do a lot for you, and all I ask is that you ensure that faith does not drive her to do something stupid. Because I love her, Doctor, and it hurts me, eats away at my heart to see her scared or in despair. Doubly so if you're the cause. You know that more than anyone."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course. I would never, ever dream of hurting either of you on purpose. Never. Not in a million years if I can do anything about it."

"Show it, and there's no need to say it." replied Rory.

"2000 years standing outside the Pandorica and you've gotten braver. Good on you, mate."

"Thank you. I think I'm going to hit the hay too. Long day tomorrow."

"That it would be."

"Good night, Doctor."

"A very good night to you too, Rory."

"Who says 'good night' like that? This isn't Christmas, you know."

The Doctor pouted, waving off his companion with a dismissive hand gesture. "Oh, just go to bed. Shoo, shoo, shoo!" Rory laughed before he too left for his room. Al stared strangely at the Doctor as she walked away, not bothering to give him a second glance. The Doctor's pout grew. "And good night to you too, Al!" _"Geez... Not even a word of acknowledgement. Who does she think I am, anyway? Nevermind, better not answer that question..." _The Time Lord shrugged as he headed over to Nurse Joy's counter. "I believe you said that you had something for me, Nurse Joy?"

Nurse Joy clicked his fingers in rememberance, producing the envelope once again for the Doctor to see. "Oh yes, Professor Juniper sent this to you through priority mail and told me _not_ to give it to you while you are in the presence of any of your companions."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the strange request made by Professor Juniper and the envelope she wanted him to have, before taking said envelope with a start. "I see. Thank you, Nurse Joy." Nurse Joy gave the Time Lord a small bow before resuming her position behind the counter. The Time Lord gazed at the small envelope for a brief second before he turned it over to stare at the back. Upon setting his sights on the envelope's flap, his eyes widened drastically in surprise. _"Could this really be what I think it is?"_

* * *

Author's notes: Well, that was a long chapter to write. I do apologize for the long delay in getting this done, but like the chapter before it, the file for this chapter was in my old computer which broke done, and so had to be painstakingly recovered. Even then, I thought the chapter needed a lot more content before it was fit to be uploaded, hence the long process of looking over the file and then added what I believed it required. I will try to be faster on the next update if my current workload permits it. Incidently, on Doctor Who, Rory and Amy have left the show as companions in the fifth episode of Series 7, which was a pity as I really enjoyed their characters. But the show is all about change, and that is how it sustains itself. Anyway, here is the glossary for this chapter.

(1) As the Doctor needs significantly less sleep than his companions, he has been known to sneak out occasionally at night while they are sleeping to go on solo adventures of his own, many of which are unchronicled and unknown to said companions.

(2) This line was spoken by the Doctor's tenth incarnation in the episode "Silence in the Library", indicating his distaste for archeologists, since as a time traveller, he can manipulate what they find and by extension, the conclusions they derive as a result. He can also go back in time and know if their conclusions are correct or not.

(3) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation dislikes being around people who are too slow to figure things out, in particular, what he is explaining.

(4) The Doctor's eleventh incarnation was not keen on hiding his emotions, and often showed his anger readily when his tolerance reached its limits, a trait seen in his first incarnation as well.

(5) When Amy first met the Doctor as a child in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", the TARDIS had crashed on its side in her front lawn, likely a contributing factor in his raggedy appearance then led to the coining of her "Raggedy Doctor" nickname for him.

(6) As a kid, Amy disliked apples, so her mother carved smiley faces in them to make them more appealing to her. This becomes a central to the Doctor gaining the trust of the adult Amy in the episode "The Eleventh Hour", as he presents her with the same apple her child self gave him twelve years earlier, the first thing he had requested to eat after his latest regeneration. The apple still being fresh with the smiley face proved to Amy that the Doctor was indeed a time traveller, convincing her to let him go after she had locked his tie in a car door.

(7) Time Lords age at an incredibly slow rate compared to humans. The Doctor himself has been known to go through several human lifetimes, namely centuries, without any outward sign of physical aging.

(8) This exchange is paraphrased from lines spoken by the Doctor and Amy in the episode "Flesh and Stone", where it is noted that the Doctor requires that his companions have a certain element of faith in him, as he may not be able to always tell them the truth.

I will still take and accept OCs until the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City, so I suppose anyone interested in submitting has plenty of time to do so. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**

**Alexandra Diamond belongs to Chicken-Wings93.**

**Maxwell Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**


	35. Sauntering in a Retail Wonderland

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.**

* * *

_"The most important fact about our shopping malls, as distinct from the ordinary shopping centers where we go for our groceries, is... that we do not need most of what they sell, not even for our pleasure or entertainment, not really even for a sensation of luxury. Little in them is essential to our survival, our work, or our play, and the same is true of the boutiques that multiply on our streets." _- Henry Fairlie

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 35: Sauntering in a Retail Wonderland**

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, January 21, 2011, 1:45 p.m.)_

As he took his first steps into the grand building with dominated a good portion of Castelia Street, the Doctor flung out his arms for dramatic effect. "Well, here we are, everyone, what you've all been waiting for! The grand Star Galleria Mall! Smack dab in the middle of Castelia Street, with 437 stores, 3 levels of retail space, 3 basement car parks, and covering an area of 1,689,297.308256937193056 sq ft, that would make it the biggest mall in Castelia City!"

"Did you memorize all those numbers, or did you make them up in a misguided atempt to impress us?" muttered Al.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Neither, just took a couple of visual surveys of the exterior and interior, and took the standard measurement for the amount of space your average person would occupy simply by standing in one spot, which, if you're curious, is 2 sq ft. Extrapolate that figure to cover the whole building, and hey presto, I get the area of the mall, plus the knowledge of exactly how many people would fit in it if they were squeezed as compactly as sardines. I like sardines, the poor man's protein, yes, but they saved my life recently, from cyanide poisoning no less, so I hardly doubt that is any poor feat at all, as while they do come cheap, they manage to pack 7g of protein per ounce, which is roughly the same amount of protein you get in roughly the same amount of beef steak, so you can imagine the savings. Incidentally, apart from protein, sardines contain substantial amounts of methylcobalamin, which is a form of Vitamin B12, a vitamin that is essential for the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system, and the formation of blood. Coincidently enough, another form of Vitamin B12 is cyanocobalamin, which is basically a cyanide molecule bonded to cobalamin, the molecue which forms the core structure of all Vitamin B12 variants. One way cyanocobalamin is created is when cyanide reacts with hydroxocobalamin, which is yet another form of Vitamin B12, and as Rory pointed out so aptly at the time, hydroxocobalamin is a way to treat cyanide poisoning. But here's the kicker. Because it is the most stable form of Vitamin B12, cyanocobalamin is the form most often found in supplements and fortified foods. However, the cyanide is in amounts small enough not to be harmful to anyone, except possibly those with cyanide metabolism defects, which likely explains why it is the form of cyanide that forms from cyanide poisoning treatment with hydroxocobalamin. It's stable and won't break apart easily, and therefore, can just be safety excreted as waste by the human body."

"That's the Doctor, going from building dimensions to sardines to protein to Vitamin B12 without missing a beat." muttered Amy.

Muyoko raised a hand. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but Nigey and I would really like to get down to the shopping, you know, so we can get props for our Pokemon to participate in the Pokemon Musical."

"Feel free to go around and shop to your heart's content." The Doctor's voice soon dropped in pitch and volume as it adopted a cryptic undertone. "I'll just be...around." The Time Lord turn to notice his companions still standing near him, proceeding to wave them away with a dismissive hand gesture. "Well, go on! Shoo, shoo, shoo!" The group quickly complied with the request, save for Rory, who lingered by the Doctor's side as the Time Lord walked over to a coin-operated rocket ship ride for children.

Rory looked on apprehensively as the Doctor slipped a 25 Pokedollar coin into the coin slot and sat upon the rocket. "What are you doing, Doctor?"

The Doctor laughed gleefully as the rocket began to shake, and the characteristic musical jingle that accompanied its activation began to play. "Oh, just having a little fun! I've always wanted to ride one of these things!"

Rory bit his lip as he noticed several mothers pointing and staring at the Time Lord. "Uh, I don't think you should be indulging in your childish fantasies here."

"Oh relax, Rory! What's the worse that could happen?"

Rory sighed as he noticed a muscular security guard approach them. "Well, for starters, _that_."

The security guard stopped in front of the ride and stared deeply into the Doctor's eyes. "Sir, this ride is for kids 8 and under _only_."

The Doctor furrowed his brow as the ride continued to move and shake. "Don't call me 'sir' **(1)**! I got enough of that when I was younger, mind you!"

"Right... Just how old are you, anyway?"

"907."

"I don't know if you're trying to be funny, but clearly you are _not_ '8 and under'. I would ask that you kindly get off the ride and proceed with the rest of your business for the day."

"But I was having fun!" whined the Doctor.

The security guard gestured to a group of children who stared questionably at the sight of a fully-grown man on a ride ostensibly designed for them. "Those kids over there want to 'have fun' too! Now move it!"

The Doctor scrowled as he was evicted from the ride. "Fine..." Sliding off the rocket, he stormed off with a start, reaching into the pocket of his tweed jacket and fingering the envelope he received from Nurse Joy earlier that day. "I have_ something_ to do anyway..."

Rory pinched his nose as he sighed again, electing not to follow the Time Lord. After having to be around the Doctor 24/7, he decided to go for something more mundane this time around and actually enjoy his time at the mall, without the Doctor being around to embarrass him. Such time was a precious commodity to him, and he was intent on not wasting any more seconds of it. While Amy shared the Doctor's zeal for the unusual, Rory was more content in pursuing the more normal things in life, and following the Doctor would only lead to more curiosity, which the nurse was simply far from keen to wrap his head around today.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, EG Travel Agency, January 21, 2011, 2 p.m.)_

The Doctor came to a stop outside the travel agency as he retrieved the envelope from his jacket. The envelope was fairly pedestrian, save for its flap, which bore a stripe of red on the edge, shaped like a capital letter "V", owing to the dimensions of the flap. The envelope contained a single slip of paper, printed with the image of an aged stone lighthouse surrounded by trees. By a trick of digital editing, the clouds in the sky next to the lighthouse were shaped like Victini. _"Hmmm... This seems to be the place." _He entered, soon taking a seat in front of a desk placed near the entrance.

The attendant sitting behind the desk perked up as the Time Lord made his presence known. "Yes, can I help you, sir?"

The Doctor pressed the envelope onto the desk's surface. "Well, I have this I need you to take a look at."

The attendant took the envelope and peered inside, eyes widening in amazement as she instantly recognized the slip of paper. "That's a Liberty Pass!"

"Yes, and I was told to come here and get it validated."

"How did you get this?"

"Professor Juniper, nice lady she is by the way, sent it to me."

"Okay then, let's see here. The twelve digit serial number on the pass is 308461947052..." The attendant typed the relevant information into her computer, and sure enough, the screen changed to an image of the Doctor's face in his eleventh incarnation. "Okay, looks like your name and information are already registered in the system, tagged to this particular Liberty Pass, Mr. John Smith."

"Of course! Why would it not be, hmmm? I'm the Doctor, there should be no doubt about that."

"I apologize, but this is a security precaution to prevent fraudulent usage of the ticket by others. The authorities are placing high importance on Victini's safety, so they can't just let any Tom, Dick, or Harry waltz onto the island without being cleared by the system."

The Time Lord peered over the counter to glimpse at the attendant's computer screen. "Well, at least the photo's up to date. Wouldn't want a repeat of the incident with the Saturyns **(2)**. Next thing you know, I might be wanted for identity theft, even though it's _my own face_, just _younger and different_. Hmmm... The police going after you for impersonating yourself..." The Doctor chuckled to himself. "Have you ever heard of a notion as daft as that? Maybe you haven't, but I have. It was about ten years ago on the planet..."

The attendant cut off the Doctor with a curt request. "Sir, I would ask that you not stick your face in front of my screen..."

The Doctor gasped as if the attendant had said something sacrilegious. "Don't call me 'sir'! It's the Doctor!"

"Alright then, 'Doctor'. The next available ferry to Liberty Garden leaves in two days time at 7:30 a.m. from Liberty Pier. Don't be late. The ferries only come every few days and are really only to be used by Pokemon researchers. After evidence that Victini possibly lives on the island surfaced, it has since been closed to the general public while researchers try to determine if Victini indeed lives there and if so, how to protect it from poachers."

"I see. Well, that's a pity. Liberty Garden's a rather tranquil place, so I've heard. Out of the woods, quiet, lovely and not a location most people would flock to. Did I mention quiet yet?"

"Yes, _Doctor_, you did. Well, it won't be so tranquil if too many people find out about it, that's for sure. Not hard to see why the White Prince may have chosen the island as a spot to build Victini's retreat."

The Doctor chuckled knowingly, in a manner that made the attendant shudder with anxiety and uneasiness, despite the fact that there was no apparent reason for her to feel that emotion. "Personally, I think it's the _perfect spot_ to hide a Legendary Pokemon. The _epitome_ of perfect spots. In fact, if you looked in a dictionary for the definition of 'perfect spots', you'll find Liberty Garden's picture right there. Too bad it won't be for long..."

"Do you intend on catching Victini? If so, then..."

The Time Lord shrugged. "Oh, none of that. I think Victini should be free to go wherever it wants, personally. It just chose to follow the White Prince. I just have an inkling that it will choose to do so again."

The attendant could not shake her discomfort at the Doctor's demeanor. "Okay then... Anyway, I'll just inform Professor Juniper that your Liberty Pass was validated."

But the Doctor was no longer listening, distracted by a brochure on a rack. Taking the leaflet, he stared at its front. "What's this?"

"Oh that? The Unova Broadcasting Corporation, or UBC, has been conducting tours of their broadcasting center for the last few days. They are the largest broadcasting corporation in Unova, and are responsible for the UBC group of television and radio channels. The UBC also own channels in other regions, so in essence, they don't just broadcast all over the Unova region, they broadcast all over the Pokemon world. Tomorrow's the last day of the tours, so if you're interested in burning time until your trip to Liberty Garden..."

The Doctor nodded as he turned to leave the travel agency, leaving a sizable tip on the attendant's counter. "Thank you, you've been very helpful." As he stapped out the exit, he chuckled with glee as he stared at the brochure, recalling the attendant's words.

_The UBC also own channels in other regions, so in essence, they don't just broadcast all over the Unova region, they broadcast all over the Pokemon world._

The Time Lord smirked to himself as he continued to walk on, passing an electronics shop in the process. _"Two days from now, Team Plasma will have absolutely no idea of what'll hit them..."_ He paused briefly as his Xtransceiver rang before picking up the call. "Yes, hello Professor Juniper..."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, The Beep, January 21, 2011, 2:15 p.m.)_

In an specialty electronics store, Skylar bent over a box containing assorted electronic parts as she began to rifle through them, retrieving one which she began to examine. "Yeah, I definitely need this transistor. It really was a bummer my sunglasses got fried, but hey, what can you do?" She leaned to take another part from the box when she slipped, tilting the box and knocking its contents to the floor. "Whoa!" The girl landed on her rear end with a thud, groaning in slight pain. "Ow! A little help here?"

Sophie took Skylar's hand and moved to pull the other girl to her feet. "Really, Skylar, sometimes you can be very clumsy, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Doctor's level of clumsiness."

Skylar scratched her head. "Uh thanks, I think? I just hope there aren't any more accidents. The staff are giving me nasty looks. Besides I gotta get all the parts I need quickly so I can start work on repairing my sunglasses."

Szac shrugged. "That's what we're here for. You know, you can just tell us what parts you need and we can help look for them. You don't have to do this all by yourself."

"Well, sure, but I think I'll get a lot more satisfaction out of doing things myself, you know?"

"Hey, how did your sunglasses get damaged?" asked Sophie.

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "You were there then, weren't you, Sophie? I was doing some field work on the banks of Unova's east river yesterday when I accidently fell in, so they short circuited."

Szac was astonished. "Skylar doesn't remember how her sunglasses _really_ got damaged at all! You know, I thought it was daft and all, that hypnosis stuff Amy mentioned, but now I see some truth to it..."

Sophie leaned in to whisper to Szac, ensuring that Skylar could not hear her. "The Doctor didn't just hypnotize Skylar. He _completely erased_ her memory of him destroying her sunglasses and implanted false memories in their place."

"And you think about the fact that he could have easily done that to _anyone_ who tried to tell Officer Jenny that he actually disabled part of the safety wall on Skyarrow Bridge to go after his Oshawott. The Doctor is truly a dangerous person..."

"Yes, hello Professor Juniper."

Sophie perked up at the sound of the voice. "That's the Doctor!" Sure enough, the Time Lord walked into focus past the entrance of the shop, in full view of the two teenagers, before continuing on his way nonchalantly.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." muttered Szac. Without waiting for a response from Sophie, he snuck around the aisles of the shop, quickly reaching the entrance as the ends of the Doctor's tweed jacket disappeared from sight.

Sophie rushed after the boy, careful to keep the voice down so as not to draw the Doctor's attention, or so she hoped. "Szac!"

"I'm just suspicious right now, Sophie. Very, very suspicious."

"About what?"

"Just follow me and keep quiet."

"What about Skylar? She doesn't know we're leaving the store!"

"I'm sure Skylar can take care of herself for a few minutes."

Sophie was beside herself with deep anxiety. "Should we be doing this? We're eavesdropping on the Doctor! What if we get discovered? You saw what he did with Skylar! Do you want the Doctor to hypnotize us as well?"

Szac paused, noticing that the Doctor had stopped walking. The boy turned to face Sophie, putting a finger to his lips as he crept behind the Time Lord, watching carefully as the Doctor walked over to a nearby bench. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he shuffled over to a massive potted palm tree just a few meters behind the bench, quickly squating down to hide behind the large pot as he reached it. Szac crouched to make his frame as small as possible as he beckoned Sophie to follow his cue. The girl swallowed reluctantly and assumed a similar position behind Szac.

Sophie took a second to examine Szac's frame crounched in front of her. "Wow, the pot actually managed to hide you quite well, Szac. How tall are you again?"

"Me? I'm 6'6". And you?" asked Szac.

"5'7"."

"Well, it'll be easier for you to hide, that's for sure. But don't let my height fool you, most of the time, I've been able to find good hiding places wherever I go. Sometimes, I just need to sneak up on people, and my Pokemon do help me with camouflage on occasion. I'd say we're pretty well-hidden here."

Sophie shook her head vigorously. "But the Doctor was able to detect the location of that Sewaddle Muyoko caught in Pinwheel Forest, even though his back was to it and it was in a tree about a hundred meters away! The distance between this tree and that bench is way lesser! He's bound to know we're here! Is it really necessary to spy on the Doctor?"

"Relax, we're safe here. If the Doctor has detected us, he would have blown our cover a long time ago, and he's shown no sign of that. Besides, I have reason to believe that you really should listen to what the Doctor has to say to Professor Juniper."

"Why? It's probably none of my business and spying on my superiors is disrespectful."

Szac raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Is that what you think? Because I think you're just too lazy and can't be bothered."

Sophie pouted. "Says the guy who sleeps for _hours on end_ and can't be bothered to do anything in his free time. If I remember correctly, the Doctor had to use his Oshawott to wake you up when we were leaving Nacrene City. And it wasn't too pleasant."

Szac frowned but did not say anything more as he noticed that the Doctor had taken a seat at the bench. The Time Lord's frame was bent forward slightly, as he brought his wrist to chest level, his head tilted down so he could peer at the screen of his Xtransceiver. The Doctor cleared his throat slightly as he continued to speak to Professor Juniper. "Oh, don't you worry about a thing! Skylar and Sophie are behaving quite..." The Doctor paused for a second before continuing. "...well..."

Sophie bit her lip. "He _hesitated_. He doesn't really think as well about us as he says..."

The Doctor shrugged as he continued to talk. "Hmmm? No, I haven't challenged the gym yet... And what did you call me for? About our excursion? Find some way to get away from my companions for the day..." The Doctor nodded in understanding. "Right, got it."

"Professor Juniper is discussing something big with the Doctor, I can feel it. The fact that she wants him away from the rest of us definitely says something." muttered Szac.

Sophie frowned deeply. "I've been working under her for close to seven years and she _never_ tells me anything big! How long has she known the Doctor? About three weeks? Something must be up for Professor Juniper to request that he meet her without any of us present."

"Well, one thing's for sure. Professor Juniper has a lot of trust in the Doctor."

Sophie huffed. "Professor Juniper trusts the Doctor more than she does me, her assistant! And my brother and I have already done so much to aid her research!"

"Have you ever considered the possibility that it might be something about you that may be causing Professor Juniper to not trust you as much as you think she should?"

"Well..."

Szac bit his lip. "The Doctor_ hesitated_ when he answered Professor Juniper's question on how you and Skylar were behaving. That might be a hint. You know how perceptive and clever Professor Juniper is. She _must have_ sensed the Doctor's hesitation and realized that he's simply trying not to badmouth you and Skylar. If what you told me was correct, he already complained about you to Professor Juniper and your brother, Nicolas. He could have easily done so again, you know."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Well, for starters, when you caught your Joltik, you nearly messed up the Doctor's well-contrieved plan to capture a Sewaddle for Muyoko in Pinwheel Forest. If the Doctor didn't somehow manage to sense Sewaddle's location, it would have gotten away. Just for that, the Doctor could say you are disruptive to others and not a team player, since we were all working to help Muyoko. Not a good image for a researcher, since the scientific community is built upon teamwork and cooperation. He knows you are lazy, and that also contributes to disrupting others and potentially ruining their schedules. And we know what happened with Skylar at the Skyarrow Bridge. Why did the Doctor shoot water in her face and destroy her sunglasses? Because she said that his Oshawott drew with Amy's Larvesta due to Oshawott not landing that many hits on Larvesta and taking more hits from Larvesta. She basically implied that Oshawott was terrible at attacking accurately and terrible at avoiding damage. To say that about how an S-Rank Pokemon Connoisseur like the Doctor raises his Pokemon? That's a major _faux pas_ and frankly, very, very rude. They're supposed to be authorities on how to further bonds between Trainers and Pokemon! What do you think Professor Juniper would say about that if the Doctor mentioned it to her?"

Sophie cupped her chin, considering the consequences behind that hypothetical action of the Doctor's. "Probably give Skylar a big reprimand and maybe if Professor Juniper deems it fit, send her straight back to Sinnoh, where she would be further reprimanded by Professor Rowan. Pokemon researchers do take their interpersonal relationships with each other rather seriously and when their assistants work with other researchers, the assistants are expected to uphold some form of professionalism around those other researchers."

Szac nodded. "There you go, right from your own mouth. It's embarrassing to Professor Juniper if another top class researcher like the Doctor complains about her assistants. The Doctor was trying to protect you and Skylar by _not_ complaining. He hesitated because of it."

The boy paused at the Doctor continued his conversation with Professor Juniper. "I hesitated just now, really? Hmmm... Well, don't worry, Skylar and Sophie aren't giving me any problems. Yes, things are fine. Okay, so I'll meet you at 7:30 a.m. on that day then."

Szac perked up. "Did you just hear that? Professor Juniper brought the topic up again. That hesitation earlier proved to her that things aren't exactly shipshape between you and the Doctor, since you and Skylar gave him some problems. Since he's not saying anything more on the subject, she just gave him the benefit of the doubt and dropped the matter."

Sophie bit her lip. "I just don't like the fact that so much of my fate is now in the Doctor's hands. I've only known him for such a short time and he has so much control over me already."

"I know, and I don't like it either, but there's nothing you can do about it. It seems like he's the sort who can quickly and easily gain power over others. Heck, he might have some control over me too, I probably just don't know it yet. Think about what would happen if the Doctor chose to complain about you right then and there. And couple that with your laziness. Professor Juniper would _not_ be pleased with you at all. And you've been her assistant for a long time. It would be hard for her, emotionally, to discipline you. Another reason the Doctor didn't complain is because he didn't want to put her in that kind of spot."

"I never really thought about it that way, Szac. You're smart."

"I just know how to interpret the intentions of other people. Aside from the Doctor being a full-fledged expert researcher and you being an assistant, along with the fact that he's more experienced and knowledgeable than you, why do you think Professor Juniper trusts the Doctor more than she does you?"

"Well, I guess it could also be because he did those favors for her, teaching that lesson at the Trainer's School in Striaton City and agreeing to take Skylar and I along with him on his journey. He could have easily declined to do either. He also helped Fennel to recover her Pokemon."

"Don't forget that he also helped to defend the Nacrene Museum form Team Plasma." added Szac.

"We all did that!"

"Yes, but he single-handedly held off that guy who could use aura. You know, the one in the black hooded cloak. I hate to say this, but I was terrified by him. He dodged an attack from Lenora's Watchog and defeated it with a single kick! And he did it physically by himself, without using any of his Pokemon! Lenora's Watchog is one of the fastest Pokemon I know, so that man's reflexes must be superhuman! Don't forget that he also took out Skylar, her Rotom, your Dewott, and my Houndoom with his aura spheres. Lenora and Rory failed to stop him from stealing the Light Stone, and he managed to lift Hawes up with one hand! He also seemed perfectly willing to kill Katrina when she got in his way! At that rate, I don't think any of us could have stood up to him. The fact that the Doctor could fight him capably and to a standstill, from what I heard, says something about how powerful of a person the Doctor apparently is."

Sophie sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. He's very capable."

"That brings me to my next point. Let me ask you something. What trait determines whether or not a researcher picks you as an assistant?"

"What?"

"How capable you are. Through what I've described, the Doctor has shown himself to be a very capable person and also very knowledgeable, which is something Professor Juniper _greatly respects_ him for. She may have deemed you capable, Sophie, which is why she let you become an assistant under her, but the Doctor is so much more capable, especially since, unlike you, he's far from lazy, which would certainly contribute to Professor Juniper trusting him."

"Huh! Well, the Doctor's assistants don't seem to know their stuff about a lot of basic things regarding Pokemon! It's like they were living under a rock from the time they were born until now!"

"Who he chooses as assistants is his problem, and frankly none of our business. However, the Doctor has shown a deep fondness for them, especially Amy, that much is certain. They are definitely very close friends. I'm willing to wager that they have been through a lot with him." Szac cleared his throat as he turned to focus his attention on Sophie. "Well, if you want Professor Juniper to trust you more, here's a tip. Don't give the Doctor any reason to hesitate in future when she asks him how you have been. How can she trust you when other people have problems with you?"

"I..."

"Look at it this way, if the Doctor _does not_ have any issues with your behavior, then he won't hesitate when he gives his opinion of you. Remember, the Doctor is your key to earning both the approval of Professor Juniper _and_ your brother."

Szac paused as he heard the Doctor speak again to Professor Juniper. "What? Nine people disappeared in Nimbasa City a few hours ago? Amid sightings of the _black cloud_?" The Time Lord waited for the professor's response. "Interesting... Yeah, I know Nimbasa City was also the target of the last attack five days ago, and it's also where I'll be going for my next gym badge, after beating the gym here, that is." Another wait. "Oh, don't you worry, I'll be careful. I'm always careful." The Doctor huffed as he heard Professor Juniper reply. "You beg to differ? Oh, come on!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "You see, Szac? I doubt Professor Juniper would tell me any of that. Nicolas maybe, but not me!"

The two teenagers soon heard the Doctor wrapping up his conversation with Professor Juniper. "Yeah, don't worry, 7:30 a.m. I know. I won't forget. I'll see you there."

Sophie scratched her head. "The Doctor has some sort of appointment with Professor Juniper. I wonder what it is."

"Well, whatever it is, the Doctor is aware of it, which means that the appointment has been made in advance." replied Szac.

"Then why don't we know about it?"

"Perhaps it's something important?" suggested Szac.

"Important enough not to tell us?"

"I doubt we'll find out what it is about at this time, we'll find out if and when we need to, I suppose. If the appointment doesn't involve us, then we can expect that the Doctor would likely find some way to keep the rest of us occupied, and then disappear himself, which keeps us from sticking close to him. Again, I suppose the reason Professor Juniper didn't tell you anything is because she likely trusts the Doctor more. Once again, it probably boils down to capability."

Sophie huffed. "Don't lecture me about capability! First, Professor Juniper picks Nicolas over me to go to the Relic Castle when it's being excavated, and what does she do about me? Make me wait in Accumula Town for Skylar! And now she has arranged some mysterious appointment with the Doctor! She keeps doing things behind my back!"

Szac shrugged. "I sense that you don't trust Professor Juniper. I'm sure she has her reasons for doing what she did."

"Like what?"

"Think about it. You're lazy and tend to stay in one place for a rather long period of time. From what I heard, that's in contrast to your brother, who likes to travel around. Perhaps by pairing you with Skylar and subsequently having you travel with the Doctor, Professor Juniper is trying to help you be more active. She just has your best interests at heart. The scientific community doesn't function on lazy bums, you know."

Sophie groaned. "Now you're staring to sound like Nicolas."

"I'm also trying to help you. I don't mean to be blunt, Sophie, but you can take what I told you as advice on how to better yourself, or you can leave it. It's up to you." Szac stood up from behind the pot, careful not to make too much noise and attract the Doctor's attention. "Let's go. It won't be nice to leave Skylar all by herself at that store for too long. After that, how about we grab a bite? I'm starving."

Sophie stood up in turn. "Alright, as long as there are no tomatoes. I hate tomatoes..."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

As he stood up from the bench, the Doctor's lips curled into a knowing smile as he straightened his bow tie, knowing that the two teenagers had just vacated the area. Contrary to what Szac believed and true to what Sophie thought, the Doctor had _indeed known_ that the two teenagers were following him from the moment he walked past the store thery were in. He had even heard every single word Szac and Sophie spoke between themselves. _"Honestly, Szac, did you really think I didn't notice you and Sophie behind that palm tree? I could hear the two of you coming from a mile away! That was a terribly amateur hiding spot. Against your common target to stalk, you may have pulled it off, but I'm not your common target to stalk. Surely you would have already known that. But I have to say, your observations were good, spot-on at times. Nevermind, I didn't blow your cover for one reason, and one reason only. I wanted to test Sophie to see if she could improve her character, particularly her lazy attitude. Let's see what sort of impact hearing my conversation with Professor Juniper has on Sophie now, shall we?"_

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, Props, Props, Props!, January 21, 2011, 3:20 p.m.)_

Pacing around a store dedicated to supplying Trainers with props for the participation of their Pokemon in Pokemon Musicals, Muyoko lifted a golden Viking style double-horned helmet from a hat stand. "This Horn Helmet looks quite cool! I think it'll look great on Golem!" She began to approach Al, helmet in hand. "Here, Al, try it!"

Al streched out her hand in Muyoko's face, halting the other girl's advance. "Put that on my head and I will rip your arms off. Slowly."

Muyoko pouted. "Fine. You're such a meanie." The girl paused as she soon noticed pink Beret perched on a stand nearby. "Oooo... How about that one?"

Al groaned in displeasure. "This is going to be a long day..."

Nigel held up a small black bow tie. "Do you think this will look good on Swoobat?"

Muyoko nodded, though she had a bow tie punctuated with blue and yellow vertical stripes. "That Bowtie? Sure, but you know what? Since your Swoobat is female, how about this DressyTie?"

Al took the opportunity to sneer at Nigel. "Bow ties? Get real, Nigel!"

"Hey! Don't be mean to Nigey! Are you saying that because you don't like bow ties or because you hate his Swoobat?"

"Both. I hate his Swoobat more than anything else, especially since it embarrassed me the last time I was around Burgh."

Muyoko clicked her fingers, remembering the memory. "Oh yes, she kept flying all around Burgh's head and seriously annoyed him. Yeah, she tends to do that to male Trainers a lot. You _like_ Burgh, don't you?"

Al rolled her eyes. "Why did I let you two tag along with me again? Besides, Nigel wants to put a bow tie on his Pokemon, Muyoko. _A bow tie._ Do you have any idea how unsightly those things are?"

A voice huffed behind the three friends, causing them to whirl around and face the speaker. "Oi! I resent that!"

Nigel's eyes widened in recognition of the newcomer. "D-D-Doctor-r-r!"

Al turned to find that the Doctor had in fact entered the store, his face creased with irritation at her comments. "Exhibit A, right there, ladies and gentlemen. You have something to say, Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do. Bow ties are cool, and perfect for Elegant category Pokemon Musicals!"

"Excuse me? Bow ties are cool? Which century do you live in?"

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. In a few months, everyone will be wearing bow ties."

"Yeah, right. You keep feeding your own delusional, idealist imagination."

The Doctor frowned, taking great offense to Al's words. "An idealist? Did you just call me an idealist? _Do not_ call me an idealist."

Al smirked. "Why? Don't like being compared to the Black Prince?"

The Doctor shifted his frame slightly. _"I don't deserve to be compared to that great man."_ "A realist would be more appropriate." He face quickly shifted fro serious to jovial. "Yes, definitely a realist, because that's what I am. I'm the Doctor, but also a realist. Definitely have no plans to reshape the universe in my image like some maniac I've known, but hey, I'm as insane as insane goes, personally."

"I'll call you what I wish. You'll just have to deal with it."

"Oh, will you?"

"Yes."

"Will you?"

"Yes."

"Will you?"

"You are getting annoying."

The Doctor spun around and shrugged. "Not the first time anyway. People have been calling me what they want for centuries and I've been dealing with it for centuries. Yep, definitely not a first. Explains why I have so many titles. All of that flattering, if I do say so myself. And if they are_ not_ flattering, well,_ I make them flattering_." The Time Lord cupped his chin, thinking for a second. _"I may not deem myself worthy, but since Al put it that way, challenge accepted. I just hope he doesn't strike me down with lightning for temporarily stealing his title, just this once."_

"What, so 'idealist' is now a compliment?"

The Doctor's eyes flared with intense determination. "I told you, I'm a realist. But since you put it so aptly, I will take that ideal you set before me and _turn it into a new truth_! Expect to see those bow ties round everyone's necks soon." The Time Lord soon noticed the Horn Helmet, still in Muyoko's hands. "Oooo... Is that a Horn Helmet? Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Slightly stunned, Muyoko complied, handing the helmet over, where it promptly found a place atop the Doctor's head. "How do I look?"

Al's response was blunt and straight to the point. "Dorky."

Muyoko shrugged. "Not bad, but I think it'll better suit a Pokemon."

"Well, I think it's pretty cool. By the way, do they sell fezzes here? I _need_ a fez. Amy and River destroyed the first one I got in this life, and I told myself I could get a new one **(3)**, and I did **(4)**, but it went missing. I suspect Amy is somehow responsible..."

Nigel turned to look around the store. "I-I d-don't t-t-think they s-sell-l any-y-y fezzes h-h-here-e, D-Doctor-r."

The Doctor pouted. "Awww! I really need another fez!"

Al crossed her arms across her chest, frustration seeping into her features at the Time Lord's demeanor and obsession with strange head wear. "Why do you _need_ a fez anyway?"

"Fezzes are cool!"

"Fezzes _are not and never were_ cool."

The Doctor soon caught sight of a brown Cowboy Hat, which he took with a flourish. "Aha! A stetson! They're cool too!"

Al groaned as she watched the Time Lord set the hat upon his head and proceed to admire himself in a mirror. "I don't think I want to see another hat again for a long time... Maybe as long as I live..."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, Powell's Books, January 21, 2011, 4:30 p.m.)_

Settling himself in a comfy armchair with a stack of books placed neatly on the armrest, Rory let out a content sigh as he took the top book and began to read. Growing up in Leadworth, Rory had the misfortune of being known as the school "freak" or "geek" due in part to his studious nature and lack of wide social interaction, leading to his possession of very few friends. Perhaps due to the isolation and loneliness he faced and his job as a nurse, Rory learned to channel those experiences into an ability to display significant compassion and empathy for others, born from a desire to prevent them from having to experience those emotions themselves, as there would always be someone out there to care for them. He also grew to be a timid and submissive person when he first met the Doctor, adopting a passive approach to Amy's instructions by going along with them, and taking her mild abuse without any complaint, so long as the only condition was that it allowed him to be near her. Rory found himself easily intimidated by his superiors at Royal Leadworth Hospital. But since joining the Doctor and Amy on their travels, Rory discovered that born out of a desire to protect Amy from the peril they faced on their adventures, he had grown into his own as a significantly braver person, which scored him several points in his wife's book. He would perform a few great acts of courage out of love for Amy and go to any length to defend her when angry. But all this may have been unnoticed by Amy had the Doctor not stepped in. The fact that the Doctor made quite a number of attempts to bring them closer together must be mentioned, for it cumulated in their marriage, an act from which the Doctor cemented Rory's loyalty. But despite the changes in his personality, and his newfound bravery, Rory still enjoyed returning to his roots as a seeker of knowledge, and few things exemplified that more that simply resting in a chair with a book to read.

However, it was not to be, as a voice shouted out, gaining the disapproving looks of other customers and Rory's irritation. "Ah, Rory! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Lovely place you've come to, a book store. One of my personal favorites as well."

"Can I help you in any way, shape, or form, Doctor?" asked Rory, lips pursed tightly in a snarl. Just because Rory had grown fond of the Doctor, it did not mean he had become unaffected by the Time Lord's shenanigans.

The Doctor beamed as he pulled a book from the shelves and thumb-flipped through all the pages from front cover to back in a second **(5)**. "Oh come on, Rory, don't be so mad! Well, if I'm bothering you, feel free to ignore me!"

"A practical impossibility if you ask me. Besides, you're not the sort who is used to being ignored, and sooner or later, you'll demand my attention again." muttered Rory. The Doctor proceeded to grab another book, repeating the process before continuing with a third. "Uh, Doctor, I'm probably going to regret asking this, but what _exactly_ are you doing?"

The Doctor looked up from his book and faced Rory, replying with a tone that stated his actions were the most obvious thing in the world. "Reading."

"What? No, no, no, no. That's not how _normal people_ read, Doctor. Normal people prefer to read their books nice and slowly. Reading's supposed to be a relaxing hobby."

Rory soon frowned as another familiar person arrived, disrupting his peace further with her hyperactivity. "Gee, I wish I could read like that. But then again, I don't really like to read too much. Too many words and concepts to absorb. Give me a lecture and I'll probably fall asleep. Lectures and concepts don't really mesh well in my book. Oh hey, I just made a comment about books! Was that random? I like random!"

The nurse soon found the need to address the newcomer. "Ruka, if you don't really like to read, _why_ are you here?"

"I dunno! I guess I saw the two of you here and decided to pop in and say 'hi'! Hi!" Ruka capped her sentence off with a dramatic wide wave of her hands, prompting a raised eyebrow from Rory.

No sooner did Ruka move her arms down did another customer, a middle-aged woman, in the book store shout out. "Excuse me!"

Thinking that she was blocking the customer's way, Ruka began to shift two feet away. "Sorry, ma'am."

The customer marched up to Ruka and moved her face right in front of the girl's. "Why are you walking away from me, you despicable girl? I'll have you fired for this!" Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Rory pulled his book in front of his face, wanting to detach himself from the situation as much as humanly possible. Besides, the Doctor was there and could take care of it if things escalated.

Ruka attempted to back away, raising her hands to put some space in between herself and the customer. "I'm sorry, I think you're conf-…"

The customer brandished a think hardcover book threateningly. "You think you can sell my daughter these trashy novels, and expect to get away with it? She told me all about the saleslady who told her 'Oh, you don't want the _Predrocles_ series, _Lemine the Shrew_ is much better!' Well, I'm telling you right now, my daughter DOES want the _Predrocles_ series. So, you better exchange the books right now!"

"Ma'am, I think there has been a mistake, I don't work here!"

"DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" Before Ruka could react, the customer raised the book, slamming is hard against the right side of the girl's head. Disoriented from the sudden hit, Ruka stumbled backwards, her back crashing into a nearby bookshelf, the impact causing several books to cascade down right on top of her frame, partially burying the girl in a mountain of cardboard and paper. Alarmed, a member of the staff behind the checkout counter proceeded to call mall security.

Rory sighed as he flipped another page of his book. "Oh blimey…"

The Doctor approached the woman with a start. "Ma'am! You can't just go around hitting people like that!"

The customer turned to face the Doctor. "That's not a customer, and don't you lie to me! I know it's another one of your second rate employees, trying to get out of exchanging my books!" Turning back to Ruka, the customer proceeded to kick the girl as she lay in a dazed heap. The Doctor moved swiftly between the customer and Ruka, prompting her to try and whack him with the book, but he caught her by the wrist with his left hand before the heavy tome could make impact with his face. Twisting her hand in a wrist lock, the Doctor made the customer drop the book before he twisted his right arm around her neck, holding her in a headlock.

Before long, the security guard arrived on the scene, quickly slapping a pair of handcuffs on the customer's wrists. "Ma'am, I'm afraid you'll have to come with me." As the security guard busied himself with making sure the customer was properly secured, the Doctor seized his chance, pulling out a small tin of black shoe polish from his pocket, and kneeling down behind the security guard, slathering a generous amount of shoe polish on the man's walkie-talkie strapped to his belt.

The customer screamed as she was being led away. "YOU'RE ALL JUST A BUNCH OF MORONS WHO DON'T WANT TO RETURN MY BOOK! WELL, I'M GETTING ALL OF YOU FIRED!"

The Doctor casually straightened his bow tie as he watched the customer be escorted away by the security guard. "Well, that was…interesting." The Time Lord watched as Rory stood up from his chair, moving to extract Ruka from the heap of books. "I hope she doesn't get a concussion from this…"

Rory shrugged. "That's a nasty feeling, I can tell you that, Doctor. But it might do wonders for her hyperactivity. If you ask me, she's a real loony."

Ruka pouted as she stood up unsteadily. "Hey! I heard that!"

But the Doctor had detached himself from the conversation as he overheard a nearby woman spending a few minutes patiently telling her young daughter that the legendary dragons of Unova were not real. The woman huffed. "For the last time, they're just made up! For fun! They did not actually exist!"

The girl held up a book on said Legendary Pokemon. "But they're in this book, look!"

"Oh for… I've already explained this. Come on, we're leaving."

"Can I buy the book on the dragons?" asked the girl.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Of course not! That's the last thing I need!"

As the woman proceeded to the checkout counter, the girl approached the Doctor. "Excuse me, mister, are the legendary dragons of Unova real?"

The Doctor leaned in close. "Well, that's what _I_ have to tell you." The girl's face lit up instantly as her mother let out an exasperated sigh. "Anyway, that looks like a great book for you."

"I think you're a dragon!"

The Doctor appeared to be flattered. "Oh, so you think I'm rather majestic?"

The girl giggled. "No, I think you're a big lizard with lots of scales all over!"

The Doctor scratched his head. "Uh… Thank you?" The girl dashed off to join her mother. "Ah, making the day of a girl who likes dragons. Life doesn't get any better than that."

Rory chuckled. "She had a laugh at your expense too, Doctor."

"But I thought that was pretty sweet of you." replied Ruka.

The Doctor sighed. "Due to the relative lack of physical evidence to support their legends, some people just don't believe the Legendary Pokemon actually exist. By extension, some people also don't believe that the princes of Unova actually existed, thinking that they are just a footnote in the legend of Unova's legendary dragon-type Pokemon."

Rory moved to sit back down on the chair he once occupied. "Alright, now I think I want to get back to reading. What do you plan on doing now?"

"I think I'll take a ride on that coin-operated rocket ship thingy again. Care to join me?" asked the Doctor.

"I think I'll pass, thank you. But didn't the rent-a-cop kick you off that thing?"

"So?"

Rory sighed. "Nevermind. How are you going to get past him?"

"Oh don't worry, I took care of him."

"I don't even want to know..."

An angry voice soon bellowed down the corridor. "Where are you, punk?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh! Gotta go! Later, Rory, Ruka!" Before the nurse could react, the Time Lord was off in a flourish, running from the book store with a speed that could rival a cheetah. Rory shook his head and sighed, this time making the decision to stick by his companion, despite all his sense of reasoning telling him otherwise. He left the shop in pursuit of the Doctor, followed quickly by Ruka, who had made a speedy recovery from her ordeal with the irate customer.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, Lindstrom Department Store, Women's Clothes Department, January 21, 2011, 4:45 p.m.)_

Katrina was in awe as her eyes scoured the assortment of dresses hung up on racks in the women's clothing section of the mall's anchor tenant department store. "Wow! I've never seen this many clothes in one place before..."

Amy raised an eyebrow as she held a low-cut dark blue dress up to her frame. "Never? You mean you've never gone shopping before?"

Katrina crept over to Amy, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I mean, I have shopped, but it's just the smaller shops. I come from a small town, you know. I've never really been in such a big place. Don't like the crowds or the big scary-looking people for that matter."

The Scottish woman sighed as she replaced the dress on the rack as she moved to pat the girl gently on the shoulder. "Wow, I really feel sorry for you. But don't worry, I'll protect you."

Katrina beamed, a smile which brought an identical one to Amy's face. "Really? Thanks, Amy!"

"Anytime." Amy removed an emerald-green dress studded with purple rhinestones from the rack pressed it against her body, trying to determine if it would fit her. "Now how does this look on me?"

"Stunning, if you ask me."

"Great! But seriously now, you haven't tried to pick out any of the clothes for yourself. Don't you want to have some nice, new clothes?"

"Believe me, I do. But it's just that..." Katrina's voice broke off as she broke eye contact with Amy, struggling to find the right words to say.

"What?" probed Amy.

Katrina blushed, embarrassment crossing her features as she silently debated with herself on whether she should reveal her financial woes to Amy. This woman had taken the effort to reach out and bond with her, and indeed, they had formed a steady, sisterly bond in a short amount of time. If anything, she did not want to trouble Amy with her problems. However, from observing Amy during their time together, she knew the woman to be tenacious, and realized that sooner or later, Amy would discover what the problem was, if the Doctor did not deduce it first, that is. Katrina weighed the consequences if that scenario were to occur. Amy did not seem to take kindly to secrets being kept from her, and Katrina realized that she would surely lose the woman's trust if she did not come clean now, which was an outcome she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Katrina sighed deeply as she prepared to speak. "I don't have the money to spend on this stuff. None of my family ever did. My family was so poor that they were not able to send my mother to hospital when I was born. She gave birth to me in my family's barn. I already told you this on the Skyarrow Bridge, I grew up sickly, and my parents had to spend the lion's share of their income on my medicine. Because of that, I lost my mother and my sister, Rue, became a cripple, on one of the trips they had to take to get my medicine. I guess, in a way, even if I had the money, I don't feel I deserve to wear these nice clothes. Due to my sickness, my family, already cash-strapped, had to pay for my medicine, and because they couldn't afford to have it delivered to Solaceon Town where I lived, my mother and sister had to travel to Jubilife City to get it." The girl sniffled as a lone teardrop escaped to corner of her eyes, soon followed by more. "I caused my mother's death and my sister's disability!"

Katrina perked up as she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her back, soon finding herself in Amy's embrace. The woman reached into her pocket, pullingout a handkerchief which she used to wipe away the girl's tears. "It's not your fault. Do you think your mother would like to see you beat yourself up like this? Would your sister? Ask yourself this. Why did you go on this journey?"

"After Rue was injured, I devoted all my effort into getting better, and soon enough, I did. From that point on, I took over from her as a farmhand and worked on the family farm to help my father. I saw Pokemon battles on television and I became fascinated. I always wondered about the world out there and wanted to be a Pokemon Trainer. I begged my father for months and he finally agreed. He gave me the family's pet Glameow, Lucky, to take with me. I caught a few Pokemon in Sinnoh, then just recently traveled to Unova."

Amy nodded in acknowledgement. "There you go. You set out on your journey to experience the world and the joy of being a Pokemon Trainer. Despite knowing that he would lose one of his helpers on the farm and possibly affect his income, your father didn't stop you, did he? In fact, he encouraged you by giving you Lucky. He wanted you to enjoy your journey and find meaning in it. Where's the meaning if you feel miserable here? Your parents sacrificed a lot so you can be where you are. Don't disappoint them. You owe it to yourself to make the most out of this opportunity and live where they could not. You have a close bond with your family, don't you?"

"Of course! From time to time, I send stuff back home to Rue. Just little trinkets."

"That's good. Seriously now, we're girls. We owe it to ourselves to have a little fun once in a while, and part of that fun is trying on and buying new clothes. As for your money problem, nevermind. Here..." Katrina blinked as she saw Amy hold out several 10,000 Pokedollar bills.

Katrina's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the large amount of bills. "I haven't seen this much money in my life! Are you sure it's fine?"

Amy shrugged. "Yeah, of course! I mean, the Doctor's got enough money to last him for the next _several billion years_. Literally."

"It's the Doctor's money?" questioned Katrina.

"Well, famous researcher like him, you'd think he would have some dough becuase of it. He gave this to me to spend, and he'll _never_ miss it."

Katrina stared apprehensively. "But still, I don't think this money is rightfully mine to spend. It's the Doctor's money, and I didn't work for it. He did."

"Actually, I'm not even sure if _he_ worked for it. But, he wouldn't want that at all. Besides, he wouldn't mind. Consider it a gift from him to you, and you know what they say: 'Never look a gift horse in the mouth.'. Go buy yourself a nice dress, and get something for your sister as well."

Katrina refused to let up on her hesitation. "But if I spend it, I'll feel like I have to pay the Doctor back somehow..."

"Repay him by enjoying yourself."

"I grew up on a farm, and over there, we worked for everything we have. It would be wrong for me to eschew those beliefs just like that."

Amy's facial expression softened in fondness of the girl. "You're a good girl, Katrina."

"Mind if I cut in?"

Amy turned to look behind, noticing that the speaker was someone she was familiar with. "Max?"

Max blinked in recognition of the woman in front of him. "Oh, it's you, from before at the Central Plaza. Sorry, I never did quite get your name."

"It's Amy."

"Ah, so you're Amy. Nathen did mention quite a bit about you and Rory and the Doctor."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Nathen? Is he here in Castelia City?"

"Well, yes, but he's training at the Battle Club now. Despite the fact that we live under the same roof here, I barely ever see him, save in the mornings before he goes out and at night when he comes back. Would rather not, for that matter."

"Ah, family issues..."

Max huffed. "Don't act like you know anything about my family!"

Amy narrowed her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean, huh?"

But Max chose to ignore Amy's question, turning to Katrina. "Well, I heard about your problem, and don't you worry. Just pick whatever dress off the rack that catches your fancy. It's on me."

Katrina shook her head. "No, no, no... I won't take the Doctor's money, and I at least know him. I don't even know who you are..."

"Don't worry about it. Anything for a damsel in distress." Katrina turned visibly red in the face from the boy's comment.

Amy, on the other hand, was having none of it. "Oi! Who are you calling a 'damsel in distress'? Do you believe that all girls out there are helpless and need some guy to save them, huh? Do you?"

Max held up his hands as he backed away slightly from Amy. "No, I just…"

"I'll have you know that women are not just 'pretty decorations' you can just…"

Katrina bit her lip, desperately trying to find something to distract Amy and Max from the argument. A large model airplane hanging from the ceiling soon caught her eye. "What's that thingamajig up there?"

A voice spoke out behind Amy, Max, and Katrina, making the three of them jump in surprise. "That would be a thingy, as defined by the Saucejid civilization of the planet 'Hackateralizon XVI'. Common word used by them to refer to any vehicle that can go airborne. Including but not limited to rockets, airplanes, spaceships, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

Amy spun around, coming face-to-face with the speaker, delivering another shock to her system. "Doctor! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" The Time Lord bit his lip, as if thinking that the question was worth debating over. "No, we wouldn't... Anyway, as I was saying, a thingamajig is _distinctly different_ from a thingy."

Before the Doctor could elaborate, his ears caught the distinct sound of an angry man. "I've got you now, maggot!"

The Doctor looked this way and that, trying to find a suitable hiding place. "Oh bother..." He quickly found an unoccupied changeroom, darting into it and closing the door behind him.

The group soon found themselves facing a fairly furious security guard. "Alright, where did that punk go?"

"What punk?" asked Amy casually.

"Don't play games with me, I know he ran this way."

"I didn't see anything. Did you, Katrina?"

Katrina shook her head quickly, deciding to play along. "No, not at all." The girl soon caught sight of an unsightly black blotch on the security guard's cheek. "What happened to your face?"

"That guy covered my walkie with shoe polish. When I am through with him, he'll wish he was never born." A gleeful chuckle was heard in the direction of the changerooms, attracting the security guard's attention. "What was that?"

Amy feigned ignorance. "What was what?"

"I distinctly heard a noise."

"I didn't hear anything."

More chortling came from the changerooms. "Did you mean a noise like that? I heard it too, and it's really annoying." replied Katrina.

Max decided to speak. "I'd hurry up and wash that shoe polish off or it might stain your face."

"What did you say, scum?" asked the security guard.

"It's just an opinion..." muttered Max. The security guard narrowed his eyes before walking away.

Once the coast was clear, the Doctor emerged from his hiding place, clutching his sides in a vain attempt to hold in his laughter and failing miserably. "Did you see his face? Besides, there are a thousand-and-one things I can do to him. By running away, I'm just being kind **(6)**."

Amy frowned deeply. "Doctor? Do you have _any idea_ how extremely, childishly immature you can be sometimes?"

The Doctor puffed his chest out proudly. "Compared to the stunts I pulled off in my youth, this is rather tame, to tell you the truth."

"So you were a delinquent back then? Is that what you're trying to say?"

The Doctor cupped his chin in thought. "Well, when you put it that way, yes, yes I was. Hmmm... Maybe I should put that on my calling card. 'The Doctor, _delinquent of the Universe_'... How does that sound, hmmm?"

Amy slapped herself on the forehead. "That's not something to be proud of! And I for one, might consider myself _ashamed_ to be associated with someone who has a title like that!"

"I'd be proud of it."

"You're 907 year old, Doctor! Act your age!"

The Doctor pouted. "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes **(7)**."

Rory soon arrived with Ruka in tow. "Doctor? You managed to shake off the rent-a-cop, right?"

Amy sighed. "Oh, yes he did. And he left us to deal with the fallout."

A store attendant soon approached the group. "Is there a doctor around here? A lady is stuck in the changerooms! I think she's gonna have..." The store attendant cupped her cheeks with her hands. "...a baby!"

Ruka beamed as she pointed at the Doctor. "Oh my gosh! Well, don't worry! He's a doctor!"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Uh..."

The store attendent cupped her chin as she scrutinized the Doctor. "He sure doesn't look like much..."

"Well, he performed a cricothyrotomy on a Liepard yesterday and saved it!"

"But that's for Poke-..." A shrill scream of agony echoed throughout the walls of the store, prompting the store attendant to shriek in response. "Yeah, you'll do, come on!"

"No, wait!" The Doctor's protests were soon cut off as the attendant grabbed his wrist, yanking him away from the scene at a breakneck pace. "I'm really not...! Gah!"

Rory shook his head before rushing off after the Doctor and the attendant. "Wait! I'm a nurse!"

Amy observed the sequence of events with amusement. "Well, that'll keep the Doctor occupied. Anyway, my husband the nurse, so gallantly offering his help at a time like this... Isn't he _such a gentleman_?"

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, Lindstrom Department Store, Changerooms, January 21, 2011, 6 p.m.)_

The group stood outside the changerooms in anticipation as strangled screams rang out from the closed chamber. They listened nervously as the Doctor's voice rang out from inside. "Hmmm… Let's see here…"

"Uh, Doctor? Do you even know what you're doing?" muttered Rory from within.

"Truth be told, not really." Amy slapped her forehead at the Time Lord's admission. "But I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go along, yes."

The group moved to cover their ears as they heard the outraged scream of the woman in labor. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING?"

Amy found herself slapping her forehead again at the Doctor's next comment. "Not totally. But I once saw a mother pig give birth to a bunch of cute little piglets on a farm. This should be about the same thing, right?"

"I AM NOT A PIG! IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG, I'LL SUE YOU FOR MALPRACTICE!"

The Doctor chuckled. "No, you won't. As a matter of fact, you can't. Now push."

"WHAT MAKES YOU SO SURE I CAN'T?"

"The Good Samaritan law, which offers legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. In short, you can't sue me since I am going out of my way to help you. I could choose not to, which would be a far more undesirable outcome for you."

Amy shouted into the changerooms. "Doctor! There is a proper time and place to flaunt your legal knowledge!"

Max cupped his chin. "Incidentally, according to my parents, that law, in its initial form, was drafted up by the White Prince in a bid to reduce hesitation on the part of bystanders to help someone who is incapacitated, for fear that they may be held liable for unintentional injury or wrongful death. It was considered to be a revolutionary law in its time, and has been adopted in some form or another by the rest of the Pokemon world."

The Doctor chuckled from inside the changerooms. "Yes. Aren't I a visionary? Please don't hesitate to clap, by the way."

Katrina raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Inside the changerooms with the Doctor, Rory sighed. "Doctor, focus!"

The expectant mother did not let up on her screaming. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME, DAMMIT!"

"Alright then, all my attention's on you now. Now come on, push!" replied the Doctor.

Ruka stared at a nearby clothes rack. "I don't believe this..."

"Yes, you're doing fine, I see the head now! Just push again!"

"Yeah, a live birth happening right in the changeroom!" exclaimed Katrina.

Ruka shook her head. "No, these halter tops are two for 1500 Pokedollars."

A few seconds later, the cries of a newborn baby permeated the air around the changerooms, prompting all those present to cheer in relief.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, Star Galleria Mall, January 21, 2011, 6:30 p.m.)_

Outside the store, the group sighed happily as they witnessed the woman being wheeled away on a gurney, arms cradled protectively around her newborn baby, wrapped in a swaddling cloth. Soon after, the Doctor and Rory emerged from the store's entrance, wiping their hands off on small towels.

Amy perked up as she caught sight of her companions. "So she named the baby after you, Doctor."

The Doctor shrugged as he threw his towel into the nearest trash can. "Not the first baby to be named after me, I'll tell you that. A lot of babies have been named after me. All over the universe. Not that I mind though, I love babies. Babies just make you feel all warm and fluffy on the inside, not to mention that they'll just so adorable too."

"So basically, you're saying that there are a lot of babies with the name 'The Doctor' across the universe."

The Doctor nodded. "Yup."

"Gee, I wonder if they'll get teased or beaten up on the playground when they grow up."

The Doctor huffed. "Oi! My name's not that bad!"

Amy shook her head. "No, your name _isn't a name at all_, it's a title. And a title is most empathetically, _not a name_."

"It's a name I call myself!"

Amy stared smugly at the Time Lord. "Sure, and that baby just got the short end of the stick when it comes to names."

"Oh _shut up_, Pond."

Rory sighed. "Alright, lay off the Doctor, Amy."

The Doctor looked up to see the rest of his companions coming to join them. "Anyway, the day's winding down, so how about we retire to the Pokemon Center for the night? I have plans for the next two days, oh yes I do..."

Szac whispered to Sophie. "Yup, the Doctor's acting strange now. Of course he has plans, _especially_ in two days' time. By the sound of the Doctor's tone, that is when I suspect he is to meet Professor Juniper. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on him then to see what he is up to."

"So what are your plans, Doctor?" asked Rory.

The Time Lord chuckled cryptically. "Oh, you'll see..."

* * *

_(Liberty Garden, January 21, 2011, 10 p.m.) _

Felix snarled as he observed the large numbers of Plasma grunts who had assembled on the shores of Liberty Garden, all scrambling to set up various electronic radar devices of some form along the coast. "Hurry up and get to work! Geez, you lot are slower than a group of brain-dead Slowpoke. We have to get this done and get off the island before sunrise tomorrow."

A Plasma grunt huffed as he stopped to catch a breath. "I don't see you doing anything!"

"Did I say you could stop? No, wait, don't answer that. I'll answer it for you. No, I didn't. Get back to work!"

"Why do we need to hurry anyway? The night's still young." remarked another Plasma grunt.

Felix groaned. "Do I need to spell it out for you? This is a protected location. If the authorities notice that we're here without the proper clearance, we'll find our butts in the slammer before we can blink. And with that, we can kiss our progress here good-bye. Besides, we still haven't set up the devices at Prime Pier yet. And we need to get that done by tonight as well."

"You still haven't told us why we need to get all this done by tonight."

"We need to finish this by then because of the Doctor."

The Plasma grunt raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Adam has informed me that the Doctor will be coming here in two days, and according to Ghetsis, it would appear that the Doctor is the only one who can solve the conundrum in the basement of the lighthouse that has baffled all of Unova's top researchers and archeologists. We'll need to rely on Adam to make sure that the Doctor does indeed open that door. And when he does, that would be the opportune moment for us to strike. Now get back to work!"

Gazing down on the scene from the top of Liberty Garden's lighthouse, a small rodent-like creature noticed the large number of people on the island. Unable to make out what they were saying by virtue of its distance from them, it saw them rushing along the coast like a swarm of Durant. Though it had seen its fair share of people on the island before, this was the first time it had seen so many, and it continued to watch with curiosity, though for some reason it could not fathom, the creature also found that it was beside itself with deep anxiety. Whenever anyone got too close to its home at the lighthouse, the creature's first response was typically to hide, for it found security in the solitude offered by such a remote location and grew uncomfortable whenever such security was threatened.

Quickly finding its way down to the basement of the lighthouse, the creature soon arrived at a small chamber at the end of the corridor, furnished into a comfortable bedroom filled with toys littering the floor and pictures hung up on the walls, some painted with oil paint, others drawn with crayon. The creature approached one such painting, a finely detailed portrait done in oil paint, depicting a man with combed back blonde hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. Placing a paw on the center of the portrait, the creature's face fell as it forced itself to tear its eyes away from the picture.

As it moved towards its bed to sleep, the creature halted as it detected a golden shimmer behind it. Turning its head to find the source of the mysterious golden light, the creature soon found itself face-to-face with a man whose appearance perfectly matched that of the portrait the creature has been studying a second ago, dressed in regal robes. However, his entire body was bathed in golden light. The man knelt down on the floor, as the creature rubbed its eyes, trying to see if they were playing tricks on it.

When the man did not disappear, the creature's face brightened significantly, as it rushed towards the hand that the man held out. "Tini!"

The man sighed as he spoke, his voice laced with weariness and deep remorse. "I'm sorry, Victini. Please forgive me for leaving you here. I'm so sorry." He stood up and bowed his head to stare at the floor as if in shame. Small orbs of golden light began to detach themselves from his frame as he began to disappear.

The creature's eyes widened in alarm as it shot forward attempting to grasp even a small scrap of the man's clothing. "Tini! Tini!" But it was too late, as he vanished completely, leaving the creature floating in the space he once occupied. "Tini…" The creature blinked in shock and confusion, soon finding teardrops leaking from its eyes. Squeezing its eyelids shut, the creature reared its head back and let out a cry of sadness and anguish as it landed on the floor, beginning to weep inconsolably.

* * *

_(Undisclosed location, January 21, 2011, 11 p.m.)_

In the room where he normally convened for meetings with six other men, Ghetsis stared forward, disgruntled at his current position. "All that effort _I_ put in, and at the end of the day, _he_ will get all the credit, _all the power_. I might as well be like the boy, a figurehead of Team Plasma. But no! I was the one who built Team Plasma up from scratch with my very hands! Me! What right has _he_ to just step in and take what should be mine?"

Following Ghetsis' gaze, one would lay eyes upon a bespectacled pale-skinned man in his mid-thirties standing at the room's entrance. Possessing a head of short blonde hair with a distinctive dark blue quiff spiraling around his head, he was dressed in attire befitting that of a researcher, wearing a white lab coat with a long, flowing tail, on top of a black shirt with light blue trim, accompanied by a pair of white gloves. Completing his outfit were a pair of black trousers and a pair of fine black leather shoes. "The whole thing _was his idea_… But oh, do not fear, sir. You will get your credit when it is due, and you'll soon have the Unova region eating out the palm of your hand."

"For far too long _he_ has sat upon _his throne_, and in that time _he_ has become stagnant, irrelevant. It is time the old tyrant toppled. And I have the perfect weapon in mind for the job. Whether the boy succeeds or fails, it is of no consequence to me, but it will certainly affect _him_. The success of _his_ plan on the other hand, _completely_ hinges upon what the boy can accomplish. If the boy succeeds, I will swoop in and claim the glory and the power that _he_ would unleash upon Unova. If the boy fails, then _he_ is powerless, and I can dispose of _him_ easily. Without the boy, _he_ might as well be _the figurehead_."

"A figurehead that can put you in a pretty precarious position, sir. In any case, although the odds are in your favor, whether you can dispose of _him_ or not depends on the success of _your own plan_, sir."

"Mind your tongue." hissed Ghetsis.

The man bent his frame forward slightly in a low bow. "My apologies for speaking out of line, sir."

"How are preparations for the new weapon?"

"Almost ready, sir. All that remains for us is to conduct a few field tests."

"Make sure you get it done soon. I need that project completed ASAP if I am to get a leg-up over my _competition_."

The man nodded. "Yes, sir."

"And when things come to fruition, neither _he_ nor the Doctor would ever suspect that a remnant from their past would spell their final downfall."

The man perked up. "Speaking of the Doctor, if I may, sir, I would like to conduct some tests of my own."

"Oh?"

"I would like to battle the Doctor."

Ghetsis raised an eyebrow. "And what is your rationale for that request?"

"It has come to my attention that although the boy has battled the Doctor twice already, he lacks the necessary skill to properly engage his opponent, since the boy is a relative newcomer when it comes to using Pokemon in battle, and the Doctor, contrary to what his companions think, clearly is _not_, evidenced by the fact that he has managed to defeat the boy on both occasions. That, combined with the boy's _nasty habit_ of releasing his Pokemon after every battle and just catching new ones in time for his next battle is simply wasteful. All his Pokemon are therefore new, inexperienced, fresh. How do you expect him to pose a credible threat to the Doctor then? Unlike the boy, I would keep my Pokemon, just like the Doctor. I would grow stronger with each battle, while the boy just stagnates. And with my analysis, we can obtain a much better picture of the Doctor's strength than the boy ever can. Should the Doctor defeat me as well, then it would only confirm my hypothesis that he is likely an expert level battler. Otherwise, we need not worry about him as much as we thought."

Ghetsis nodded with approval. "Very well then. I am interested to see what conclusions you will draw from your little experiment."

"If you wish to take _him_ out, sir, you would certainly have no hope of succeeding in that endeavor if you cannot eliminate the Doctor. Defeat either _him _or the Doctor, and you will likely be able to deal with the other person in an effective manner."

"In any case, _he_ is moving. By tomorrow, _he_ will be in Castelia City, and so will I. You will be coming as well, I presume?"

"Of course, sir. I do suppose that your departure for Castelia City is to observe the scheme your agents are planning there?"

"A pre-emptive strike against the Doctor. We cannot afford to fail there or it will tip the balance of power strongly in his favor and that of his allies. I am staking a huge part of our short-term success on this operation's outcome." replied Ghetsis.

"And you are staking a huge part of your long-term success on the proper functioning of your new weapon."

"I trust that you will bring me good news soon?"

The man bowed slightly before Ghetsis. "Do not worry, sir. I assure you that my hands are more than capable."

Ghetsis nodded, deciding to now acknowledge the man in the room with his proper name. "Very well. I am counting on you, Colress."

* * *

Author's notes: Well, that took a long while, and I apologize for the delay, but life just gets in the way sometimes. Part of the reason also came about in finding situations to put the OCs in. But yeah, this chapter is mainly intended as filler to promote some character development, so I hope I did well in that regard. And yes, the Unova Broadcasting Corporation is a thinly veiled parody of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the broadcasting corporation responsible for the creation and distribution of Doctor Who. Here's the glossary for the chapter.

(1) The Doctor hates being called "sir". His tenth incarnation also disliked being saluted, to his annoyance as UNIT officers in the episode "The Sontaran Stratagem" were only too happy to do that.

(2) In the episode "The Vampires of Venice", when confronted with a group of Saturyns after he infiltrated their base, the Doctor attempted to bluff his way past them using his psychic paper, accidently flashing a library card instead. The library card had a photo of his first incarnation, indicating that the Doctor had neglected to update the photo after several regenerations. The library card had the name "Dr. J. Smith", indicating that the Doctor had been using the alias "John Smith" since his first incarnation.

(3) In the episode "The Big Bang", the Doctor took a fez from an exhibit in the National Museum where the Pandorica was being kept and persisted in wearing it. When long-time recurring companion River Song queried this by asking, "What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" he answered, "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool", much as he did when defending his bow tie. Displeased with the Doctor's fixation on his new article of clothing, Amy and River promptly destroyed the fez, before continuing to reboot the universe. Later, the Doctor noted that he was missing his fez, but concluded that he could buy a new one.

(4) The Doctor sported another fez in the episode "A Christmas Carol", which is the next one after "The Big Bang", so he must have obtained a new fez as he said he would.

(5) The Doctor can read an entire book from front cover to back in a second by thumb-flipping the pages before his eyes.

(6) In the episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood", the Doctor's tenth incarnation found himself being pursued by the titular Family of Blood, a group of aliens with short lifespans of a few months, who sought immortality by attempting to steal the Doctor's regenerations. To evade them, the Doctor disguised himself as a human and choose to live a secluded life in Farringham in 1913. However, taking the Doctor's running away from them as a sign of weakness, the Family of Blood proceeded to kill several humans in a bid to draw him out, eventually succeeding. They soon discovered too late that the Doctor ran from them not out of fear, but out of _kindness_. Rather than fight and easily defeat them, he would have preferred that they died peacefully, instead of him killing them or dooming them with immortality. In the end, due to all the deaths they caused, the Doctor hands out the ultimate punishment, trapping the father in chains forged at the heart of a dwarf star, the mother in the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, and the daughter in every mirror in existence. The Doctor suspends the son in time, and dresses him as a scarecrow to watch over the fields of England as its protector. In a way, the Doctor fulfilled the Family of Blood's wish for immortality, though not in the way that they had hoped.

(7) This line is spoken by the Doctor's fourth incarnation in the serial "Robot" when he is rebuked for acting childish.

Applications for OCs will still be entertained until the Doctor's group reaches Nimbasa City, so send them in if you are interested. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Scheherazade's Sonata.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi's Poochy.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Felix Masque belongs to Tyltalis.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to memessa.**

**Muyoko Ginkotone, Alexandra Diamond, and Nigel White belong to Chicken-Wings93.**

**Ruka Chance belongs to Kurono-Angel.**

**Maxwell Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**


	36. Cacophony in the Newsroom

**Disclaimers: Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Taijiri. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.**

* * *

_"They take journalism really seriously because they know the force that it is and can be." _- Christiane Amanpour

* * *

**Vast White and Deep Black: Reunification**

**Chapter 36: Cacophony in the Newsroom**

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, UBC Broadcasting Station, Ms. Ong's Office, January 22, 2011, 6 p.m.)_

In a posh office located on the highest floor of the Unova Broadcasting Corporation's broadcast center in Castelia City, a woman was beside herself with anger as she stood up from the ergonomic chair in the room, bringing her fist down upon her desk with a resounding thud that reverberated throughout the room. She was middle-aged with a slightly curvaceous figure, and was dressed in a red blouse and skirt, with high-heeled shoes matching in color. Nestled atop her head, and styled with her brown hair, her beehive hairstyle shook with every word that flew from her mouth. "WHAT? The last day of the tours was supposed to be yesterday, not today! I can't afford to have visitors treading in here! Not on this important day!"

The target of the woman's anger trembled as she raised her clipboard to cover the lower half of a face, as if thinking the gesture would offer her some protection against her superior's verbal assault. "C-Calm-m-m-m d-d-d-down, M-Ms. Ong-g-g-g..."

The woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Calm down? Calm down? The ATV award judges will be watching the news broadcast today, Miri, and you were the idiot who made the mistake of writing on the brochures that tours ended today, not yesterday! I must have made a mistake in taking you on as a temporary intern... At this rate, you'll never get far in the journalism business."

Miri shuddered as she tightened her grip on her clipboard. "P-Please... G-Give-e-e me-e-e a-a-another chance-e-e, M-Ms. O-O-Ong-g-g.

Ms. Ong pressed a hand to her forehead. "Fine. You will be the one that brings this tour group around the building, and you make sure that they don't get into any mishaps along the way. I will consider giving you another chance if today's broadcast goes off without a hitch. Understand?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

Dejected, Miri left the office, almost bumping into a well-dressed bespectacled man in a tuxedo with long, dark brown scruffy hair. "Oh, sorry…"

The man stared down at Miri before clearing his throat. "So you messed up big, huh Miri?"

"You could say that, Carlton."

Carlton shrugged, apparently not even remotely affected by Miri's plight. "Oh don't worry, just treat today as any other day, even though it isn't, and keep your tour group out of trouble. You managed that for the last week and a half, haven't you?"

"I suppose…"

"Anyway, I have to go in and see Ms. Ong. Good day to you, Miri."

Miri shrugged as she walked down the corridors and headed to the reception hall to meet her tour group._ "I guess things won't be so bad. I haven't had any problems with any previous tour groups. What's the worst that could happen this time?"_

No sooner did the girl walk into the reception hall did she come face-to-face with a very familiar group of people, one of which was a man with long dark brown hair which partially covered his forehead. "Why, hello there, Miri! Haven't seen you in two weeks!"

Miri groaned and slapped herself across the forehead as she caught sight of the man. "The Doctor… I'm so dead…"

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, UBC Broadcasting Station, Corridors, January 22, 2011, 6:10 p.m.)_

As the group traversed the corridors of the UBC Broadcasting Station with Miri in the lead, the Doctor flipped through the brochure he had taken from EG Travel Agency the previous day. "It says here that they broadcast around the world. Emphasis on _'around the world'_."

Amy groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I get that. Geez, no need to repeat yourself."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. How about for tomorrow, we go to the beach?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "The beach? Okay… That literally came out of now here. What's the occasion?"

"Oh, no occasion. I just remembered that there is a very nice beach around Thumb Pier, on the east corner of the Oceanfront Road, just near the Skyarrow Bridge's Castelia City Bridge Gate. Might be a nice place to spend the day, you know, just enjoying yourself and relaxing."

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm up for it!" replied Muyoko.

"I take it that if we have any problems with that, you would just make us go anyway, right?" asked Rory. The Doctor nodded vigorously, his lips curled into a smile that threatened to split his face in two if it grew even a millimeter more. Rory shrugged. "Fine, the beach it is then. Relaxing for the day sounds mighty fine. I could go for that. Just, no chaos like yesterday."

Amy giggled as she lightly punched her husband in the elbow. "Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud, dear. You may not be as adventurous as me or the Doctor, but if the Doctor says we are to enjoy ourselves, who are we to doubt him?"

"Excuse me? Methinks his definition and yours of 'enjoying yourself' apparently differs wildly from mine."

Making a vain but valiant attempt to appear upset, Amy mock-punched Rory again, giving up the struggle to prevent more than a few more chuckles from escaping her lips. "There you go again, ruining the mood…"

The Doctor turned his back on his companions and sighed as he continued to walk forward, his giddy smile rapidly disappearing as he was left to his thoughts._ "Unfortunately for you lot, your experience at the beach tomorrow will be far from relaxing. Eventful, yes, but certainly not relaxing. Sorry Pond, but just this once, I need you out of my way for a bit. If it's any consolation, what you'll do tomorrow will be instrumental in helping me stop Team Plasma's plot. I hope you won't be too harsh on me for ditching you for the day. But, know this. I won't truly leave you alone, and tomorrow at the beach, I may ditch you, but I will still be with you, both at the same time. It just won't be in the way you expect."_

Miri cleared her throat. "As per the usual program for tours conducted here, we provide a tour of the station, and when the tour ends, just in time for the evening news, you will be brought to a special viewing room where you can watch the news, live, as it is broadcasted across the Unova region."

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 6:45 p.m.)

Miri led the group into an expansive room, where several technicians busied themselves with various pieces of electronic equipment, inclusive of several cameras and recording devices. Set in the far side of the room was a large desk shaped like a low podium, upon which rested a few sheets of typed paper and a pair of glasses. Behind the desk was a tall backdrop depicting the Castelia City skyline. The backdrop served as a false wall, dividing the rest of the room from the large storage space behind. Set between the backdrop and the desk was a swivel chair padded with red cushioning. The large screen of a teleprompter was placed a few meters from the front of the desk, providing assistance to the newscaster in reading his lines. Set on a desk and connected to that screen was a small desktop computer, enabling any manual changes to be made to any script the teleprompter displayed.

Miri cleared her throat. "So you've all seen the control room and the backstage areas, well, this is the last stop before we all head off to the viewing room to watch the news broadcast live." Miri spread out her right arm, sweeping it across the room. "This is the set, the actual table where the newscaster sets when he reads out the news. And the backdrop is where the pictures are projected onto, if the story needs a visual." No sooner had Miri finished talking did the Doctor rush out to examine the set, waving his sonic screwdriver around as he went, with its familiar green light flickering this way and that in line with the Doctor's hand movements. "Uh, Doctor? What are you doing?"

The Doctor continued to wave the sonic screwdriver energetically. "Testing the frequency of the wavelengths of the residual radio waves in this room, and calculating the approximate reach of any broadcasts made here based on that, and blimey, this broadcast station does have a very far reach indeed."

Miri scratched her head. "Well, yes. We do broadcast around the Pokemon world after all." As soon as the Doctor was out of hearing, or so she believed, Miri signaled the rest of the group to gather around her, then proceeded to drop her voice to a whisper. "Listen, I'm really not supposed to conduct a tour today."

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Miri sighed, feeling a deep sense of indignity at having to explain her blunder again to more people. "I mean, I made a mistake with the brochures, and accidently typed that the last day for tours was today, instead of yesterday, the actual end date. I know, my mistake. Ms. Ong was furious when she found out."

"Ms. Ong?" queried Sophie.

"The director of this broadcasting station. I swear, she almost threatened to tan my hide! I am genuinely scared for my life right about now, to be honest with you." replied Miri.

"She the director, isn't she? Wouldn't she have discovered the mistake a long time ago?" asked Muyoko.

Al rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with ounces upon ounces of sarcasm. "_Wow_, someone almost as incompetent as the Doctor. I _never thought_ I'd see the day."

Al's words were interjected by a quick and snippy outburst from the Doctor, whose back was turned to the whole exchange. "I heard that, Diamond!"

Miri gasped. "Then does that mean the Doctor heard _everything we said_?"

Rory sighed. "Probably. But there's really not much you can do about it now, I'm afraid to say. Just carry on."

Miri thought for a moment, before clicking her fingers as she remembered. "Oh yes, well, Ms. Ong is very busy, and frequently takes a hands-off approach towards the way most things are run here. But not today. She's going to personally oversee today's news broadcast. And therein lies my problem, as well as the reason's she threatening me."

"Why?" asked Max.

"Because there are judges from the ATV Broadcasting awards watching the UBC's news today, and Ms. Ong is eager to win the award. She's been chasing it for years and kept driving it into our heads for the week and a half I was here. The tours over the last week were a way to prepare for today's broadcast, to show that the news could be conducted in front of a live studio audience without a hitch. I'm just one of the few interns helping out in preparation, which I signed up for so I could gain some valuable experience in the news business, and as a possible career path in future. If everything goes well, the newspaper that I work for will get a boost in sponsorship from the UBC, and they really need that."

Max nodded. "I see."

"Please, you must not tell the Doctor any of this! He seems to have an uncanny knack for disrupting other peoples' important matters at the worst possible time!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Uh, newsflash to the journalist, what part of '_he probably heard all that_' do you not understand? Nevermind, we'll help you to keep an eye on him."

The Doctor spun around to face the group, raising his voice with each word. "Are you all just going to fixate yourselves on me and then make me the center of your attention? Watch my personal history and violate my privacy?" The Time Lord cleared his throat, adopting a more subdued tone of voice. "Well then, you lot. Just watch me and nothing else and the dull news can wait. Because everything I do _is practically news_, is it not? There's no room for 'boring' in what I do, never a dull moment, always full of entertainment and the like. I mean, the news is just watching some nondescript bloke in a suit reading scripted words about events already past. Events already past… Come to think about it, gives me another group of people to point and laugh at. But anyway, why watch the news when you can live it? Besides, news broadcasters only show what they want to show, truth or not. So in effect, watching the news is boring, unless something happens. What's that news and variety show airing all across Sinnoh, hmmm?"

"The 'Sinnoh Now'?" offered Katrina.

"Ah yes, the 'Sinnoh Now'! Now there's one worth watching, if only for a small part."

"What's that?"

"The boom microphone operator guy. Must be lacking physical strength in the upper body department, keeps losing steady grip on the boom microphone and repeatedly hits the anchor on the head with it. Now that's comedy at its finest."

Katrina nodded. "Rhonda? I watch her show sometimes."

"Yeah, and when that happens, oh, I laugh. I just laugh. To have something _so spontaneous_ happen on a live broadcast, something _so unexpected_, something _so unplanned_, oh, it's just _so amusing_. Spontaneity is one of those things I live for. The threats by Rhonda to send boom microphone operator guy to the mailroom just adds to the atmosphere, rather than kill it."

"So that sort of thing amuses you?" asked Katrina.

"Well, Rhonda hosts a variety show, and I think it's an excellent way to insert some _variety_ into her on-air performance. What better way is there?"

"Doctor, do me a favor." requested Amy.

"Hmmm?"

"Shut up." The Doctor closed his mouth with a pout.

Miri stared quickly at a nearby clock. "Alright, we really should be moving now. There's only seven minutes left before transmission." The group moved to leave the set quickly, and in the rush, Amy's promise to Miri to watch the Doctor was forgotten, a fact that the Time Lord utilized to his advantage as he continued to linger around on set.

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Viewing Room, January 22, 2011, 6:55 p.m.)

The door opened to a room with a large screen set into the wall, switched on to show a head-on view of the set. Behind the screen were several rows of chairs. "Alright, you'll be watching the broadcast from the make-up room, while I head back onto the set." Miri turned back and faced the group. "Hey, where's the Doctor?"

Rory shrugged. "Last, I saw him, he was still on the set, but I haven't seen him since."

"Y-Y-Yeah, m-me too-o." stuttered Nigel.

Amy and Miri gasped as they came to the same conclusion simultaneously. "HE'S STILL ON THE SET!"

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 6:57 p.m.)

The Doctor strolled around the set, thankful that the technicians were too engrossed with their respective roles to notice that he still lingered there. Holding out his sonic screwdriver, he walked around the room as he scanned his surroundings. _"The broadcast waves in this station are excellent! According to my readings, this station definitely has the capacity to broadcast to at least the whole of Unova, just as the brochure said. If I can tap into that, I'll be able to make contact with them. It's been quite a while since they last heard from me, so they must be eager to get my message."_

The hairs on the back of the Time Lord's neck bristled as he heard a voice just outside the set, switching off his sonic screwdriver in response. "All ready, Carlton?"

Another voice spoke in approval. "Yeah, should be the same as usual, Oscar."

"But don't forget, Ms. Ong is pushing for our station to win the ATV award this year, so keep on your toes. This broadcast must go off without a hitch."

"Oh boy, don't want her barking up my back." Carlton's voice faltered briefly. "Huh, I forgot my glasses, they should be on my desk in the set."

"Well, just go get them, we have three minutes left until transmission." replied Oscar.

The Doctor froze briefly. _"Oh blimey!" _He scurried to leave the room, his foot lodging against the legs of a stand on which a large boom microphone was perched, placed near the door. The Time Lord tripped upon the apparatus just as a well-dressed man in a tuxedo with long, dark brown scruffy hair sauntered into the room. The boom microphone fell forwards, smashing into the crown of the hapless man's head, and sending him to the floor unconscious in a messy, sprawled heap.

Picking himself up off the floor, the Doctor straightened his bow tie just as he caught a glimpse of the man sprawled out next to him. Thinking fast, the Time Lord sent out his Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, all of whom gave him strange looks at the sight of their Trainer standing next to an unconscious man with a boom microphone lying to the side. "Alright, I need the three of you to do something for me, and I need you to do it quickly."

"Sni."

"Te."

"Osha."

The Doctor pointed to the piece of fallen apparatus. "Straighten up that boom microphone. And don't just stand there, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

No sooner did the Doctor's Pokemon scramble off to follow his instructions did he jump as he heard a voice speak out behind him. "Doctor, what are you still doing here? We all went to the viewing room a while back!"

The Doctor spun around, coming face-to-face with Amy, followed quickly by the rest of the group. "Oh, Pond. Yes, I was er..."

Miri caught sight of the man on the floor. "Nevermind that! Carlton? Why is he just lying there?"

"Well, about that..."

Before the Doctor could say any more, his ears perked up they registered another voice, its speaker walking quickly towards the entrance. "I heard a noise." The group scurried to stand in front of Carlton's body, hiding it from view just as a technician walked up to them. "Hey! Why are you people still here? You should all be in the viewing room!"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well, I just tripped over and knocked down a boom microphone, clumsy bloke that I am. My Pokemon are fixing it now."

The technician nodded he saw a Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott doing as the Doctor described. "Okay then. Miri, get all of them off the set and to the viewing room and be back here pronto!" With that, he turned around and walked away.

Miri was frantic. "Get Carlton to the make-up room! We have to wake him up as quickly as possible, there's only two minutes left before transmission!" Rory and Szac moved hastily, picking up the unconscious man and bringing him out through the door before any of the technicians noticed. The rest of the group, save for the Doctor, followed behind them, eager to evacuate the set fast.

The Doctor glanced around the room, thankful that the technicians were too busy in their bid to make the upcoming news broadcast as perfect as possible, and as such, not noticing Carlton's absence or the fact that he was still lingering on the set. _"Now that's an issue. I just knocked out the newscaster! Now there will be no one to read the news!" _He soon caught sight of Carlton's glasses resting upon the set desk._ "Unless..." _

Out of view from those present on the set, the teleprompter placed in front of the set desk and chair began to spark ever so slightly, small yellow bolts of electricity dancing along the frame of its screen and between the keys of its desktop computer's keyboard.

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Control Room, January 22, 2011, 7 p.m.)

Standing from her spot in the control room, Ms. Ong cleared her throat as she prepared her technicians to begin the broadcast. "Okay, opening titles standby, in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Roll tape, and go." The screens turned on to show the opening titles for UBC News, before to a view of the set. "Cue Carlton." From the screens, Ms. Ong could see the set desk, with the swivel chair behind it, its back facing the camera, with a full head of dark brown hair visible above its top. The chair spun round to reveal a bespectacled man seated in it, unfortunately, he put a little more force in the spin than he intended, causing him to spin in circles, in full view of those watching the transmission.

Ms. Ong blinked, her face contorting in astonishment as she soon realized that the man sitting in the chair on the set was not Carlton Hubris. "What the?"

The man on the set managed to stabilize his chair and stop its spinning, grabbing hold of the papers on the set desk and stacking them atop its surface. "Good evening..."

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Make-up Room, January 22, 2011, 7 p.m.)

His body lying on the sofa in the make-up room, Miri frantically waved a container of smelling salts over Carlton's face. "Come on, Carlton! Wake up! Wake up!"

Ruka perked up. "The Doctor should know what to do here."

"What makes you say that?"

"I mean, he performed a cricothyrotomy on a Liepard two days ago and he delivered that baby yesterday, so why not? He clearly knows his stuff." replied Ruka.

Amy nodded. "Oh yes, so Doctor, what do you..." The woman paused as she looked around the room, so noticing the absence of the person in question. "Doctor?"

Sophie groaned. "Not again... Has anyone seen the Doctor?"

Skylar shook her head. "I don't think any of us have seen him since the time we were last at the set."

Szac pointed at the television set in the room, noticing that it had started screening the news broadcast. "Hey, that newscaster looks just like the Doctor."

Miri glanced at the television for a split second before turning her attention back to Carlton's face. "Oh, yes, yes, interesting..." She did a quick double-take as she realized that the newscaster meant to read the news was instead lying unconscious on the couch and thus could not be physically present on the set. "Wait, the newscaster is right here, and he isn't in a state to read the news at all, which means... IT IS THE DOCTOR!"

Miri shrieked in shock as she stood up, bounding out the make-up room before anyone could react. Amy turned to Rory. "We better go after her. Who knows what she or the Doctor might get themselves into?"

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 7:02 p.m.)

Miri rushed onto the set, noticing that the Doctor was sitting calmly at his place, looking around rather aimlessly due to lack of anything to do. She hastily pointed in the direction of the control room. "Rory, go into the control room! I'll try and figure something out with the Doctor!"

As Rory dashed off, the technician standing next to the teleprompter pressed his earpiece, putting him in touch with Ms. Ong. "Come on, cut transmission, cut transmission..."

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Control Room, January 22, 2011, 7:03 p.m.)

Rory rushed into the control room with a start. "Take him off the air! Cut! Cut! Cut! Cut! Do something!"

Initially stunned by his sudden appearance, the technicians moved to comply with Rory's request, but they were soon vetoed by Ms. Ong. "And lose _my_ ATV award? No way! Wait, this is something new, it might yet bring me the award! Give me Cam 1." A technician pressed a button as the many television screens in the control room displayed a wide low-angled camera view of the set, while the Doctor continued to shift his head around with no apparent sense of direction. "No, Cam 2." Another push of the button switched the displayed camera angle to a close-up, eye level view, giving the viewers a straight, head-on view of the Doctor's upper body.

Noting that the Doctor was still moving his head around aimlessly, Ms. Ong furrowed her brow in frustration. "Cam 1, Cam 2." The screens switched between the two camera angles before Ms. Ong slapped the control panel hard. "Will someone just tell that idiot to keep still?"

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 7:04 p.m.)

All present waved their arms wildly at the Doctor, eventually succeeding in getting his attention. The technician jerked his thumb at the teleprompter's big screen, to which the Doctor pointed to in response. "Oh, I'm supposed to read from there." A few thumbs-up from those present was enough to focus his attention on said screen.

The Time Lord squinted at the words upon the screen, quickly regretting his split second decision to wear Carlton's prescription glasses, as they blurred his sight, disrupting his perfect 20/20 vision. While he could still vaguely make out the majority of the words, some were simply too fuzzy and beyond his full comprehension.

_GOOD EVENING, I'M CARLTON HUBRIS, AND THIS IS UBC NEWS._

Seeing as he had already said the first two words, the Doctor opted to skip them as he began to read from the teleprompter's screen. "I'm Carlton Hubris, and this is UBC News." The words on the teleprompter's screen continued to scroll upwards as the Doctor read them.

_YESTERDAY, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FLEE AS A SWIRLING BLACK CLOUD ATTACKS THE CITY OF NIMBASA._

The Time Lord squinted, visibly straining to make out the a few words in the sentence. "Yesterday, thousands of people _free_ as a swirling black cloud attacks the city of _Seven Pizza_."

Max scratched his head in confusion. "The Doctor seems to have some trouble reading the words on the screen. Is it 'free' or '_flee_'?"

Miri groaned. "It's '_flee_'! And '_Seven Pizza'_? How can the Doctor read that from 'Nimbasa'? He just started reading and already he goofs up."

_THE CLOUD, IDENTIFIED BY POKEMON RESEARCHERS AS THE FORM TAKEN BY THE LEGENDARY POKEMON ZEKROM AMIDST STORMY WEATHER, TORE THROUGH THE CITY AT A BREAKNECK PACE, CAUSING MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURAL DAMAGE WITH ITS LIGHTNING BOLTS. REFUGEES FROM THE ATTACK BY ZEKROM HAVE BEEN SEEKING ASYLUM IN THEIR HOMES AND IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON THE BATTLE SUBWAY NETWORK WITHIN THE CITY OF NIMBASA. (INSERT PICTURE)_

"The cloud, identified by Pokemon researchers as the form taken by the Legendary Pokemon Zekrom amidst stormy weather, tore through the city at a breakneck pace, causing major infrastructural damage with its lightning bolts. Refugees from the attack by Zekrom have been seeking" The Doctor squinted again at the screen, trying to make out the last fuzzy word. "..._asyluma_ in their homes and in various locations on the Battle Subway network within the city of _Seven Pizza_, insert picture!"

Miri's eyes widened in shock as she heard the last two words from the Doctor's mouth. "No, no, no, no! Don't read that! Don't read that! The picture is behind you! Behind you! The picture is behind you!"

The Doctor turned to look at the backdrop, seeing it unchanged from the time he first laid eyes upon it, unaware that a map of the Unova region, with Nimbasa City highlighted, has been digitally inserted upon the backdrop in the televised broadcast, and was thus visible to all viewers of said broadcast. "Where's the picture?"

Miri groaned. "Oh, just carry on."

The Doctor shrugged. "Sorry, everyone, no picture today. It hasn't developed yet."

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Control Room, January 22, 2011, 7:10 p.m.)

Ms. Ong slammed her hand against a table in frustration as the Doctor ignored the words on the teleprompter. Grabbing a booklet of paper, she waved it with a flourish. "Tell him to stick to the script! Stick to the script!"

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 7:11 p.m.)

A technician waved at the Doctor to get his attention, before pointing at the teleprompter.

_THIS ATTACK COMES FIVE DAYS AFTER THE PREVIOUS ONE, ALSO AT NIMBASA. THIS IS THE FIFTH REPORTED SIGHTING OF ZEKROM THIS YEAR._

The Doctor cleared his throat. "This attack comes five days after the previous one, also at _Seven Pizza_. This is the fifth reported sighting of Zekrom this year."

"Well, that's one sentence the Doctor didn't mess up." muttered Amy.

"Apart from the city's name." added Katrina.

_IN OTHER NEWS, A ZOO IN FUSCHIA CITY HAS SUCESSFULLY MATED TWO ENDANGERED FARFETCH'D IN CAPTIVITY._

"In other news, a zoo in Fuschia City has successfully..." Another squint from the Doctor as he attempted to get a close look at the fuzzy word. "..._martyred_ two endangered Farfetch'd in _capipipitivivity_."

Szac chuckled. "Martyred? I never knew zoos had a policy of killing endangered Pokemon."

The next few words escaped Miri's mouth through gritted teeth. "It's _mated_, _not martyred_! Mated!"

_AND HERE IN THE UNOVA REGION, THE UNOVA COUNCIL OF THE ARTS HAS ANNOUNCED NEW MEASURES TO HELP PEOPLE IN UNOVA BECOME MORE ARTISTIC._

"And here in the Unova region, the Unova _Counture _of the Arts has announced new measures to help people in Unova to become more... Uh..." The Doctor squinted at the last fuzzy word on the teleprompter screen. "...Oh I got it!..._autistic_." Amy and Miri slapped themselves on the foreheads, prompting amused chuckles from several members of the group.

_SEVERAL HOURS AGO, THE ONPOT HAS ANNOUNCED AN EXCITING DISCOVERY PERTAINING TO THE LEGENDARY POKEMON THAT IS ZEKROM'S COUNTERPART,_

The Doctor squinted again as he stumbled across a word he did not recognize. "Several hours ago, the _on pot_... Eh? What is the '_on pot'_?"

"O.N.P.O.T.! O.N.P.O.T.! O.N.P.O.T.!" hissed Miri.

"Oh. The O.N.P.O.T. has announced an exciting discovery pertaining to the Legendary Pokemon that is Zekrom's counterpart, Reshi-" Over at the teleprompter's keyboard, sparks began to fly from its keys as the text displayed on the machine's big screen began rapidly scrolling upwards, beyond even the Doctor's ability to read and articulate the words quickly. "Reshi-, Reshi- Oi! Oi! Oi! It's going up very fast, can you slow that thing down a bit?"

The Time Lord's Snivy perked up as she made her way over to the teleprompter's desktop computer, grabbing the mouse with the vines extending from her shoulders. "Vy! Sni!"

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, okay, you take over."

Eager to offer his assistance as well, Tepig scrambled over to the keyboard and began to jump on it, in a misguided bid to slow the rapidly scrolling wall of text, incurring Snivy's annoyance at the same time as he jostled with her for space to work. "Pig! Te!"

Detaching his scalchop from his chest, Oshawott flung it at the monitor, only succeeding in leaving a small gash in the screen's plastic casing, which began to spark wildly, as the text on the teleprompter's big screen began to rapidly scroll downwards as well, making the words dizzying for the Doctor to look at, doubly so with his purloined pair of glasses. "Wott! Osha!"

Miri dashed to the teleprompter's keyboard, trying to wrestle the mouse from Snivy's vines. "No, no, no! Let me do it!"

The Doctor frowned at the chaos erupting from Miri struggling with his Pokemon, which did nothing to alleviate the rapidly rising and descending wall of text on the teleprompter's big screen. "Oi! Oi! Oi! One at a time! One at a time! It's still going up and down! Up and down!" The technician next to the teleprompter waved at the Doctor, who attempted to read whatever snatches of text he could see, his speech becoming less and less coherent and he mixed and matched various headlines together. "Uh, uh, uh, today police have seized X-rated videos…which the Unova _Counture _of the Arts…says were…65 people in Unova…hunger, uh…for foreign films…more people in Unova are called to take part in, uh, such events in future. A deft swipe by Miri for the teleprompter's mouse only knocked it to the floor.

Snivy tapped Oshawott on the shoulder with a vine as she hopped away from the keyboard. "Sni. Sni. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Vy." _"You know, with all that chaos here, no one will notice."_

Oshawott flashed Snivy a puzzled expression as he retrieved his scalchop. "Osha? Wott?" _"Huh? Notice what?"_

"Sni. Sni. Sni. Sni." _"Us leaving for a bit."_

"Oshawott?" _"What? Why?"_

Snivy walked off in the direction of the backdrop, quickly disappearing behind it. "Vy. Vy. Sni. Vy Sni. Vy. Snivy. Snivy. Sy. Sni." _"Come on, don't ask so many questions. Just come with me."_

Oshawott shifted his head around uncertainly, before making the quick decision to follow Snivy. "Wott." _"Okay."_

Observing the scene with mild amusement, Tepig chuckled as he saw the two Pokemon leave. "Pig. Pig. Te. Pig." _"Oshawott, you lucky bloke."_

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Control Room, January 22, 2011, 7:20 p.m.)

Ms. Ong clutched her beehive hairstyle in both her hands as she bore witness to the rapid degeneration of her newsroom into chaos. "Oh no!" Sensing that Ms. Ong was on the verge of a mental meltdown, Rory took it as his cue to leave, running from the control room onto the set. The technicians, too busy concerning themselves with the plight of their boss, failed to notice his exit.

* * *

___(Castelia City, Castelia Street,_ UBC Broadcasting Station, Set, January 22, 2011, 7:21 p.m.)

Rory ran over to the newscaster's desk and stood next to the Doctor, in full view of anyone watching the live news broadcast. "I'm terribly sorry, everyone, he's not really a newscaster." The nurse took hold of the Doctor's arm, pulling the Time Lord to his feet. "Come on, Doctor."

The Doctor flung his arm from Rory's grasp, shoving the nurse back a few steps in the process. "Oi! You're just jealous that I'm reading the news, is it?"

Rory shoved the Doctor in the chest. "Don't push me!"

The Doctor retaliated, giving Rory another shove. "I like to push you, so what?"

The Time Lord soon found himself shoved back in turn as Rory fumed. "Look, why do you always have to push me?"

The Doctor looked forward at the camera as he shoved Rory yet again, electing to speak directly to anyone watching the broadcast instead. "Hey everyone, you just saw that he pushed me, right?"

"I just...argh!" Rory soon seized hold of the Doctor's shoulders, prompting the Time Lord to do the same in turn to the nurse. Soon, both men were wrestling each other on the set of UBC News. Rory pitched forward, slamming the Doctor's back hard against the backdrop behind the newscaster's desk. "You know, whenever I talk to Amy, the conversation just naturally deviates towards you! She just keeps going on about how 'the Doctor did this, the Doctor did that', did you hear about this totally amazing stunt the Doctor pulled off'? It's always the Doctor, the Doctor, the Doctor!"

The Doctor spun Rory around, tackling the nurse against the backdrop. "Well, excuse me, but I didn't ask for the attention!"

Rory took the opportunity to kick the Doctor in the shin, causing the Time Lord to lose his balance and drop to the floor. "No, you just naturally warrant it!"

The Doctor was up in a second. "Yes, aren't I so magnificent?"

The nurse snarled as he backhanded the Time Lord across the face, causing the Doctor's cheek to slam into the backdrop. "No, you're just exasperating!" Rory soon followed that hit with another solid one to the Doctor's stomach. "The way she keeps talking about you, it's almost as if she married you, and I'm just some awkwardly tacked-on third party!"

The Doctor shoved Rory away from his body. "That's not true!"

Rory charged the Doctor, smashing the Time Lord's back hard against the backdrop, causing it to shake and wobble once again. "Oh yeah? Then what is?"

The technician's eyes widened as the backdrop began to tilt dangerously backwards. "Oh no! The backdrop is falling! The backdrop is falling!"

Standing in the large storage space behind the backdrop, Oshawott cast Snivy a slightly cautious glance, uncertain of what his teammate was up to. "Wott. Wott. Wott. Wott. Oshawott. Osha. Wott?" _"Okay, so you led me back here, Snivy. What's up?"_

Snivy took a deep breath to calm her nerves, as she extended the vine from her left shoulder and used it to scratch the back of her head slightly. "Snivy. Snivy. Sni... Sni. Vy. Snivy. Vy. Vy. Sni. Sni. Snivy. Snivy. Sni. Vy. Vy. Vy…" _"Well, the thing is… We've known each other for quite some time now, and I just want to say…"_

"Osha. Osha. Oshawott. Osha?" _"What do you want to say, Snivy?" _probed Oshawott.

Taking Oshawott's hands in her own, Snivy began using her vine to stroke Oshawott's cheek. "Snivy. Snivy. Vy. Vy?" _"Can you catch a hint?"_

Oshawott felt the temperature in his cheeks rise rapidly. "Wott. Wott. Oshawott. Oshawott. Osha. Osha. Wott. Wott. Wott. Wott. Oshawott. Osha…" _"Uh no, I think you'll have to spell this one out for me…"_

Snivy's vine gently flicked itself along the smooth surface of Oshawott's cheek, to the further discomfort of the Sea Otter Pokemon. "Sni. Sni. Snivy. Vy… Vy. Vy. Sni. Snivy. Snivy. Vy…" _"You are so dense… But I don't think I mind that, because…"_

Before Snivy could continue, a loud crash sounded as the backdrop fell backwards, the Doctor and Rory's scuffle having pushed it beyond its capacity to stand, exposing the storage area to anyone watching the live news broadcast. Noticing that her conversation with Oshawott was no longer private, Snivy hastily released the Sea Otter Pokemon's hands and scurried away, cursing both her Trainer and her luck for ruining the moment.

Noticing that the cameras were still rolling, the Doctor pulled himself up to his knees, arms still locked onto Rory's shoulders in mid-struggle. The Time Lord noted the text on the teleprompter had stopped its erratic dance and settled on the words for the end of the broadcast.

_THIS IS CARLTON HUBRIS FOR UBC NEWS. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING._

The Doctor quickly read off the last line of text, deciding to ad-lib a cheeky end instead. "Uh, this is Carlton Hubris for UBC News. I'll see you tonight!" No sooner had he finished did Rory pounce on him again, pulling his body to the floor where they both continued to wrestle.

Her face flushed red with embarrassment, Amy marched straight to the newscaster's desk and pulled Rory away from the Doctor, before yanking the Time Lord up by the scuff of his neck as if he was a rambunctious child. Pulling the two men by the backs of their shirts, she dragged them away from the set. "You two, get up! Do you have _any idea _how _embarrassing_ it was for me to watch that? The three of us are going to have a very long talk about this when we get back the Pokemon Center! Urgh, I can't believe have to travel with _such kids_ sometimes!" Rory groaned while the Doctor chuckled sheepishly as if he was child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

A dull thud resounded through the room as Tepig squealed, alerting the group to an unconscious girl lying by the teleprompter's desktop computer. Ruka walked over to the girl and checked her vital signs. "Uh, I think Miri might need those smelling salts now."

* * *

_(Castelia City, Castelia Street, UBC Broadcasting Station, January 22, 2011, 8 p.m.)_

Outside the UBC Broadcasting Station, the Doctor cleared his throat as he turned to face Miri. "By the way, sorry about your internship, Miri."

Miri shrugged. "Oh, it's fine."

Katrina was incredulous. "What? But Ms. Ong fired you!"

"Yeah, but she was a pain in the butt to work for. But thanks to the Doctor, I now have a great story to write for the newspaper I work for. I can picture it now, 'Cacophony in the Newsroom: Renowned Eccentric Researcher Messes Up Live UBC News Broadcast'. Wait until my readers hear this." replied Miri.

The Doctor scratched his head as he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, what does the _'on pot'_ do?"

Miri narrowed her eyes. "It's O.N.P.O.T.! O.N.P.O.T.! _Not 'on pot'!_"

"What does it stand for?" asked the Doctor.

Miri frowned at the Doctor, believing that he was being cheeky when he asked the question. "Organization for the Necessary Protection Of Treasures! They work to secure and protect newly discovered archeological sites from artifact looting before archeologists can excavate them. They also fund museums all over the planet and have launched several initiatives to educate people about the history and legends of the various regions. Basically, they safeguard the treasures of the world! You should know that, since many top researchers are part of their upper management! Heck,_ you_ should be part of their upper management!"

"Oh, I thought they were a bunch who smoked marijuana all day for recreation, hence their name."

"It's not a name, it's an acronym!" insisted Miri.

"Well, speaking of marijuana, it's perfectly legal to smoke. Well, at least on Earth in 1799 **(1)**, it was."

"Huh, well, that doesn't matter! What does matter is that it isn't what the _'on pot'_ does!"

The Doctor chuckled childishly. "Heh. Heh. Heh. You said _'on pot'_!"

Miri clenched her fists in exasperation. "Urgh! I meant O.N.P.O.T.! O.N.P.O.T! You know what? I don't want to talk to you for a while, Doctor. But I do want a word with you, Max."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

Miri nodded. "Yeah, you. You're Nathen's brother, aren't you?"

"Yeah, and you're the girl that's travelling with him at the moment, right?"

"Uh huh. How is he doing now? Castelia City is his hometown, right? So he should be doing well at home, shouldn't he?"

"Do I detect concern?"

Miri's face flushed red before she shook it rapidly, trying to dispel the crimson shade from her cheeks. "No! Just want to know how he's holding up, that's all!"

Max shrugged. "If you say so. Well, he's absent from home for much of the day, training at the Battle Club. But how come I haven't seen you around? Nathen has been back here for a week and a half now, and he has mentioned you."

"Well, Nathen did offer to let me live in your family's residence while we're here, but I didn't want to impose, so I'm staying at the Pokemon Center. Listen, I know things between you and him seem rather rough at the moment, but I do want you to know that Nathen does care about you a lot."

Max scoffed. "Ha! Did he tell you to say that to me? What, is he too much of wuss to tell me himself?"

Miri frowned as she shook her head again, this time in frustration. "Don't misunderstand. Nathen is a nice guy, and I just don't want you to get the wrong impression of him. What was the last thing he said to you before he started on his Pokemon journey?"

Max frowned as he recalled the words Miri requested of him. "He said: 'Max, when you think you're tough enough, come and find me. If you beat me then you'll have truly earned my respect.'"

"Exactly. Well, he is looking forward to that day where you can challenge and beat him. He wants you to train hard so you can accomplish that. Just think about that for a bit, okay? Look, I'm not asking you to start idolizing your brother overnight, but at the very least, know where he's coming from." Miri turned to the Doctor. "By the way, what was up with the teleprompter? It malfunctioned partway through the news broadcast."

The Doctor scratched his head sheepishly. "Uh, yes. I'm guessing that scanning the set with my sonic screwdriver to determine the strength of the radio waves there must have inadvertently fried some of the teleprompter's circuits. Nothing too major."

Miri checked her watch. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'd better be headed back to the Pokemon Center. It was nice meeting you all, even if the circumstances were rather _chaotic_ for my taste."

The Doctor chuckled. "With me around, nothing is _ever too chaotic_." Miri sighed slightly before walking off, giving the group a short wave before disappearing into the crowds that formed the hustle and bustle of the city.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, The Doctor's Bedroom, January 22, 2011, 8:45 p.m.)_

The Doctor came to a stop outside the door to his room, which he shared with Rory and Amy. "Now remember, We'll be going to the beach tomorrow, so be up at around 8 a.m., so we can get there in a timely manner. Good night, everyone." Without another word, the Time Lord walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

The rest of the group dispersed to their rooms as Amy turned to her husband. "Well, I wanted to talk to the Doctor, but I'll start with you first. I have some things I just have to talk with you alone." Without another word, Amy turned and walked down the corridor, beckoning Rory to follow.

Szac paused outside the Doctor's door and whispered to Sophie. "I smell a Rattata. The Doctor tells us to be up at around 8 a.m. to get ready to go to the beach around Thumb Pier, and he already made plans to meet Professor Juniper _at the Liberty Pier_ at 7:30 a.m. for whatever business he planned with her. It sounds like he's trying to give everyone the slip. Just whisper. The Doctor didn't hear us when we spied on him at the mall yesterday, so I doubt he'll be able to do so here either."

"So what do you want to do?" asked Sophie.

"I think I'm going to camp outside the Doctor's door, and make sure he can't get out that way without me knowing."

"You're planning on staying up all night here?"

"If I have to, yes."

Sophie shrugged as she began to walk off. "I think you're nuts, but if that's what you want to do, I'm not going to stop you. I'll just be turning in now. Good night."

"Good night." replied Szac.

Inside the room, the Doctor chuckled softly as he opened the window with his sonic screwdriver, having overheard Szac and Sophie's conversation. "Honestly, there's more than one way out of this room, Szac. Do you believe you can keep me from leaving so easily? Well, you have another thing coming…" Nimbly sliding his frame out onto the windowsill, the Time Lord made sure no one below was watching before he leapt down, landing on the ground in a perfect three-point landing. He stood up quickly, breaking into a run away from the Pokemon Center.

* * *

_(Castelia City, Oceanfront Road, Pokemon Center, Canteen, January 22, 2011, 9 p.m.)_

Finding an empty table in the Pokemon Center's canteen, Amy took a seat, and prompted her husband to sit opposite her. "So let's talk about us. Specifically, let's talk about how _my boys_ **(2)** embarrassed me in front of the entire Unova region."

Rory blinked before he attempted to speak. "Amy, I…" He was quickly cut off as the woman swung out with her right hand, smacking him cleanly across his left cheek. The nurse winced as he felt the force of his wife's hand knock his face to the side as he quickly brought up a hand to cup his stinging cheek.

Amy slammed her palms down against the surface of the table, noticing her husband cringe at the noise it made. She pressed down against the hard surface, raising her upper body slightly so she was now staring him down instead of the eye level she was at a second ago. "What do you mean by 'it's almost as if I married the Doctor, and you'll just some awkwardly tacked-on third party?' Huh? What do you mean by that? Go on, enlighten me!"

Rory bit his lip as his wife screamed at him. "Amy, please, people are staring…"

"_Don't_ you try to change the subject! I'm waiting for an answer, Rory!"

"Well, since he picked you up in the TARDIS, you've been going on all these trips with him, and you keep talking about him and all that. I feel like our relationship has taken a back seat to the one you have with the Doctor."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

Rory sighed. "When we were kids, you kept insisting on playing 'pretend' with me, and you kept insisting that I dress up as the Doctor. You made me eat fish fingers with custard over and over again, and it was _ghastly_. And then, the Doctor hijacked my stag party and told me you that tried to kiss him. Later, I asked him if he kissed you back."

"And what did he say?"

"He said that he kissed your mouth **(3)**." Amy chuckled, prompting a frown from Rory. "I'm serious!"

"I know! Typical Doctor…"

Rory was flabbergasted. "But you kissed him! On the day before our wedding no less!"

Amy broke eye contact with her husband and looked away. The nurse could swear that his wife's face showed traced of shame. "Yeah, well, I almost died earlier. The Weeping Angels **(4)** tried to kill me **(5)**, but the Doctor saved me. I tried to kiss him out of gratitude, but he stopped me and talked some sense into me."

"Well, because of all that, I felt inferior to the Doctor. I thought he was the one you truly loved, not me. I thought this whole time, I had to compete with the Doctor, and I was losing. I just want to live a nice, quiet, mundane life in Leadworth, and the Doctor can offer you the excitement and adventure you crave in the TARDIS. I can't win against the Doctor."

Amy shook her head. "You are such an idiot! Did I marry the Doctor, Rory? Did I?"

"No."

Amy spoke in an impassioned tone. "Who did I marry then, Rory? Answer me!"

Rory looked down at the table. "You married me."

"Why? Because you're the one I love! "

"But you made me _be_ the Doctor when we were kids and…"

"_When _we were kids. I just wanted to play, Rory, and how many other friends did we have growing up? Not many, you know. You were the perfect choice to play the Doctor. And you worry about competing with him? There was no competition, Rory, none at all, because in my mind, there was only one. And that was you."

"Only me?"

Amy nodded. "Only you. The Doctor is a friend, but you, you're my husband, Rory. There's a big difference." The woman stood up from her place at the table and walked over to her husband's side, cupping his chin and tilting his head to make him face her. "And that difference is while I _like_ the Doctor, I_ love_ you, Rory." Leaning in, Amy planted a kiss on the spot where she slapped Rory a few minutes ago, as the nurse closed his eyes and moaned softly at the feel of his wife's velveteen lips on the skin of his cheek. Amy broke the kiss and gazed into Rory's eyes. "Did I hurt you too badly?"

Rory shook his head. "No, it's fine. Did I embarrass you too badly?"

Amy giggled. "Yeah! On national television, you did! But it was sweet, in your own special way, that is. Still, tone down the attention next time for me, okay?"

"Okay."

Amy took her husband's hand, encouraging him from his seat. "Let's go to bed, Rory."

The couple soon reached the closed door of their room, and Rory clenched the doorknob, trying to turn it. "The Doctor locked us out of our room!"

Amy turned to her husband. "Wait, don't we have room keys as well?"

"Do you have one?"

"No, I left it on the desk in the room since I didn't want to lose it."

Rory reached into his pockets and dug around for a second. "I forgot mine."

"What?"

"I don't have a key either."

"So we're stuck out here." Amy furrowed her brow as Rory and Szac quickly moved to shield their ears from long-term damage. "DOCCTTTTOOOORRRRRR!"

* * *

_(Castelia City, Outskirts, Vertress Hall, Cour d'Honneur, January 22, 2011, 9 p.m.)_

Several miles away from the Central Plaza, and encompassing the area all the way towards the outskirts of Castelia City lay the city's suburbia. This residential district, far removed from the copious amounts of traffic which plagued the five main roads of the central business district, proved to be a considerably quieter place than downtown Castelia, fit for residents who preferred the hustle and bustle of the big city, while avoiding the hassle of actually living there. Freed from the urban sprawl which dominated the central business district, suburban Castelia enjoyed a lower population density, and thus, could afford to house its residents in moderately-sized single family homes, in contrast to the matchbox apartments those living downtown were often forced to dwell in. While houses in the suburbia were larger on average than downtown apartments, few approached the size of Vertress Hall.

Located near the outskirts of suburban Castelia City, close to the encroaching Desert Resort the city once occupied prior to its relocation south, Vertress Hall was a mansion well-suited for nobility. An English country house, Vertress Hall had a dull yellow facade, and consisted of a large, rectangular three-storied corps de logis with a triangular roof, held up by six Corinthian order stone columns, with black double doors between the third and fourth columns as the main entrance. A pair of long, rectangular two-storied secondary wings flanked either side of the corps de logis, providing the country house with plenty of living space. Vertress Hall was surrounded by an expansive lawn of well-kept grass, assisting it in exuding a stately feel from those that laid eyes upon it.

As the Doctor stepped onto the cour d'honneur and gazed upon the house, he sighed as he tilted his head back, allowing himself to behold the full splendor of the building. _"Ah, home sweet home. Well, it's not as big as Smithwood Manor _**(6)**_, but it's still home anyway. Gosh, it's been a long while since I was last here… Trust me to name this place after a type of cloud… Then again, that's what I did for the settlements in the entire region." _

Reaching into his pocket, the Time Lord produced a key with which he proceeded to unlock the front door, gaining access into the country house. Stepping through the corridors, he soon reached the grand living room, with a large oak wood antique coffee table in the center, surrounded by a few comfy couches. A furnace set in the wall at the center added to the room's homely atmosphere. Lining the walls were ten framed portraits, all of them of men who appeared to be of various ages, from late sixties in the first to mid-thirties in the last, but in reality, they all depicted the same subject. The very man who now wore the face of one who appeared to be in his late twenties, and chose to take a seat in one of the couches.

Reveling in the comfort of the couch, the Doctor gazed at all the portraits as they stared back at him, his face adopting a meditative expression as he beheld the men his past lives were. He was now in his eleventh incarnation, but no matter how many incarnations had existed or will come to exist, one thing was certain, there would only be one Doctor. Sighing, the Doctor leant back in his seat. _"I never would have thought Szac would attempt to keep vigil at my door to see if I would try to sneak out early. But I will give him props for being right on the money. Shaking him off proved to be unbelievably easy, but then again, I've been hunted across endless worlds by my enemies for centuries. There's a reason why I'm still alive to this very day."_

Reaching for his backpack, the Doctor extracted a familiar steel box, from which he produced a manila folder filled with several sheets of charred paper. Thumbing through the pages, he halted as he reached the one he wanted, and began to read.

* * *

_-4-_

_I: Ah yes, V, the embodiment of victory, capable of producing prodigious amounts of energy and wielding it to launch powerful attacks. It was also capable of sharing this energy with others and as its title suggests, it was said that anyone who had V as an ally will find it impossible to fail at anything he set his mind out to accomplish._

_K: Using a powerful Pokemon as a demonstration to convince other powerful Pokemon to join you. It is a technique that is rather effective, if I may add. Simplistic, but effective. The Musketeer Trio recognizes V as a powerful Pokemon in its own right, and the fact that it joined T must mean that it decided to throw its faith completely behind him._

_L: V basically convinced the Musketeer Trio that T had a good heart, and was someone who would act in the best interests of Pokemon everywhere, bringing such an issue to the forefront. And so, a valuable partnership was forged. The Musketeer Trio rendered their allegiance to T._

_R: T did use them to great effect, having them thwart some attempts by the Kami Trio to destroy the crops of peasant farmers and regrow them after exorbitant sums were extorted. He also informed them of any Pokemon poachers who were catching Pokemon for their own greedy profit, and dispatched them to deal with the threat accordingly. The criminals were often brought back to T to face swift justice at his hands._

_O: Rather impressive for such a young boy._

_M: But aside from R, V must have been his most important Legendary Pokemon._

_R: Yes, for it was the one that makes all his interactions with the strongest of Pokemon possible. From what I can garner, T first encountered V in a forest and managed to coax it into coming back to the castle to live with him._

_I: Befriending a Legendary Pokemon like that so easily, that must be quite a feat. _

_L: That is not the impressive feat. What is impressive is feeding V's insatiable appetite for sweet treats and games. It had a very child-like personality, punctuated by naivety and innocence._

_M: Sounds like a perfect match for T, if you ask me._

_O: Well, after the incident, V has apparently disappeared. Our attempts to track it down have failed. Unlike G, we are able to confirm that it did escape the destruction of the Relic Castle alive._

_F: Apart from the loss of R, T seems most affected by losing V. That small piece of news will surely bring some small comfort to him._

* * *

_(Castelia City, Outskirts, Vertress Hall, Living Room, January 22, 2011, 9:15 p.m.)_

The Doctor inwardly chuckled as he set aside the page he had just read. _"Small comfort? Small comfort? It was an immense relief! I do owe my gratitude for being told that, but it was not like I could act on the news at the time, with the Time Lords buzzing around my head like angry Combee after what had happened. Well, that will all change tomorrow."_

The Time Lord soon turned his attention to a chest at the far end of the room, which he quickly opened with the sonic screwdriver. Reaching in, he retrieved a small rectangular box with a flap held shut by velcro. Diagonal lines running along the surface of the box divided it into three equally sized triangular portions, each with a different color. On the back of the box, the top portion was dark blue and inscribed with an Elder Futhark Ansuz rune, ᚫ. The middle portion, colored bright yellow, bore the Elder Futhark Haglaz rune, ᚺ. The box's bottom portion, a crimson red, had the Elder Futhark Thurisaz rune, ᚦ, upon its surface. The Doctor turned the box over in his hand, before placing it in his backpack. _"Odin, Thor, Loki. Prepare to fight alongside your master once again. Prepare to liberate it from the prison it has occupied for so long. To find it, your assistance is vital."_

Digging deeper into the chest, the Doctor pulled out another box of the same dimensions, this one white, with the image of a red dragon inscribed on its back. The dragon possessed a serpentine body, which was curled into a near-circle, the elongated jaws of its large head nearly touching the end of its intricately detailed pointed tail. Sprouting from its mid-back was a pair of massive wings, positioned over its body. Midway between its head and wings was its hand, in which the dragon clutched an object that was shaped vaguely like a heart. An equally sized foot was positioned on the dragon's body midway between its wings and tail. The Time Lord smiled as he caught sight of the symbol. "_The seal of the Crimson Dragon."_ He curled his fingers around the small box, smiling as the same image of the red dragon that was on the box appeared on his left pectoral muscle, glowing an illuminating crimson-red. Noting a clip on the back of the box at the top, the Doctor clipped it to his Pokeball belt, just next to the red-and-white spheres.

Six additional boxes were soon removed from the chest, all of them also white, but each was marked with a different red symbol. The first box the Doctor held bore the line drawing symbol of the Crimson Dragon's head, and as the Time Lord laid his fingers upon it, the same dragon head mark appeared on his left forearm, with the same crimson-red glow as the mark on his left pectoral. The next box held by the Doctor had the Crimson Dragon's wings inscribed on its back, and as he picked it up, the associated wings mark appeared across his shoulder blades. The third box depicted the Crimson Dragon's foot, which soon appeared on his right iliac crest. Picking up the fourth box, the Doctor noted that the image of the Crimson Dragon's hand was on its back, a symbol that appeared on his left iliac crest. The fifth box to be studied by the Time Lord had the line drawing of the Crimson Dragon's tail, and as his raised his right forearm, the same symbol appeared right before his eyes. Finally, marked on the sixth box was the Crimson Dragon's tail, whose image appeared on the Doctor's left iliac crest, nestled within the fingers of the Crimson Dragon's hand mark, which had appeared earlier.

The Doctor shifted all six boxes to his backpack in turn, before leaving the living room, the marks all disappearing from his body, save for the full dragon mark on his left pectoral, as he strode down the corridors.

Using the illuminating red mark of the Crimson Dragon to guide himself through the dark of the night, the Time Lord walked from the house out onto the lawn. Looking up, he beamed as a distinctive crimson-red star shone against the backdrop of the star-studded night sky. As he gazed silently as the red celestial body, a bright flash of light from his side caught his attention. Noting that the first white box he took from the chest was still strapped to his Pokeball belt, the Doctor popped it open as the light radiated from it. Reaching for the box's contents, he extracted a card from it, staring intently at its blank white front. The card flashed briefly as an image flickered across its front for five seconds, the image of a majestic white dragon. As the image disappeared for good and the card became blank again, the Doctor's eyes caught sight of the word printed across the card's top, but missed the last three letters.

"Reshi-"

The Doctor sighed slightly as he lowered the card and looked towards the sky again to see the red star. _"It's been far too long, Crimson Dragon. And this time, I will unseal my own destiny. The last Signer Dragon to be unleashed, and ironically the partner of the first Signer, the Legendary Signer." "I can sense that the Earthbound Immortals are growing restless in their subterranean restraints. It's been five millennia since they've tasted freedom. The third cycle is just beginning. It's only a matter of time now. Soon, my successors and his will clash once again, fighting for the fate of all mankind. To think that him and I are still a part of all this, after so long..."_ He turned and reentered the house. _"Better get myself to bed early, I have a big day ahead of myself tomorrow…"_

* * *

Author's notes: Well, I sure managed to get this chapter out way sooner than I intended, which is always a plus in my books. Hopefully, this chapter will tide you over until the next one, which I anticipate will be a big one and take quite a long while to write. In writing this chapter, I did not mean any offense to people with autism or people who use marijuana for medicinal purposes, so I apologize if anyone got offended. Anyway, here's the glossary for this chapter.

(1) According to the novel "Christmas on a Rational Planet", consumption of marijuana, cocaine, and caffeine was legal on Earth in 1799.

(2) At the end of the episode "The Vampires of Venice", Amy termed the Doctor and Rory as "her boys", a term which Rory initially disagreed with but the Doctor was quick to accept.

(3) In the episode "The Vampires of Venice", after the Doctor crashed Rory's stag party, the nurse confronted the Time Lord about how Amy kissed him in the previous episode "Flesh and Stone". The Doctor told Rory that Amy kissed him first, prompting Rory to ask if he kissed her back. Taking the question literally, the Doctor replied that he kissed her mouth.

(4) Weeping Angels are an alien species that resembled statues of angels, so called because they had the ability to quantum-lock themselves, turning to stone when observed by other living creatures (including other Weeping Angels), making them resistant to harm. Their unique nature necessitated that they often covered their faces with their hands to prevent trapping themselves in petrified form for eternity by looking at one another. This gave the Weeping Angels their distinct "weeping" appearance. They were known for being murderous psychopaths, eradicating their victims "mercifully" by dropping them into the past and letting them live out their full lives, just in a different time period. This, in turn, allowed them to live off the remaining time energy of the victim's life, their primary food source. However, when this potential energy paled in comparison to an alternative power source to feed on, the Angels were known to kill by other means, such as snapping their victims' necks. When not being observed, they could move incredibly fast, though they appeared to slow down the closer they got to their prey; they appeared to like "playing with their food". Because of their defense mechanism, Weeping Angels were very hard to kill, being immune to all kinds of weapons. However they were capable of starving to death if left without time energy for too long. It was also possible to defeat Weeping Angels by forcing two Angels to look directly at each other, which would cause them both to constantly see and quantum-lock each other. Another way of defeating them and the only way of killing them apart from starvation, was to cause a paradox which would poison the time energy they used to feed.

(5) The Weeping Angels had the ability to transform ordinary statues into Angels (or at least animate and control them, and give them the abilities of true Angels such as quantum-locking). Anything with the image of the Angel, such as pictures or film, also gained the abilities of an Angel and would eventually become an Angel. When victims looked an Angel in the eyes, the Angel could infect their visual centers, creating an image in their mind. The victim could be mentally influenced by the Angel until it became fully grown, at which point it could escape the person's body, killing them. This ability could only be stopped by shutting down the visual centre. Examples of mental influence included making the victim count down the minutes to his or her death, and making the victim hallucinate that a limb was petrified. In the episodes "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone", Amy was infected in such a manner after looking an Angel straight in the eye, and they sadistically made her count down to the time when the Angel in her head would escape her body and kill her. When the Angels admitted to the Doctor that they did that "for fun", the Time Lord sent them hurtling through a crack in time in retaliation, erasing them from time and saving Amy, as this also erased the Angel in her mind.

(6) The Doctor is known to own properties on various planets all over the Universe, which he utilizes as bases of operation and occasional residence. The most prominent of these is Smithwood Manor, a large estate located on Allen Road in Kent. Referred to as "the house on Allen Road" by his companions, the Doctor's antics at the house has led to the property becoming a magnet for extraterrestrial and paranormal activity, causing residents in Kent to dub the street it is on as '_Alien Road_'.

OCs will still be considered and accepted until the Doctor's group gets to Nimbasa City. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed. Flames will be deleted.

* * *

**For credits:**

**Miri Olean belongs to Windy Rain.**

**Skylar DeVienne belongs to Scheherazade's Sonata.**

**Szac Selthez belongs to Gunzi's Poochy.**

**Sophie Summers belongs to yuukifan001.**

**Katrina O'Rear belongs to memessa.**

**Muyoko Ginkotone, Alexandra Diamond, and Nigel White belong to Chicken-Wings93.**

**Ruka Chance belongs to Kurono-Angel.**

**Maxwell Pierce belongs to Final Heir.**


End file.
